Rikako Ikee Wraps Up Remarkable 4th Gold At Trials Just 7 Months Post-Return

2021 JAPAN SWIM (OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Saturday, April 3rd – Saturday, April 10th
• Tokyo Olympic Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Japan’s Sole Olympic-Qualifying Opportunity
• JASF Olympic Selection Policy
• Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/ Day 5 Recap/Day 6 Recap
• Day 7 Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Prelims Only)

The marathon of a meet that was this week’s Japanese Olympic Trials concluded tonight from Tokyo, but not before 20-year-old leukemia survivor clinched her remarkable 4th gold medal.

After already qualifying for the Olympic Games as a member of the medley relay and free relay through wins the 100m fly and 100m free, respectively, Ikee made it happen tonight in the 50m sprints of each of these disciplines.

First, in the 50m fly, the Nihon University swimmer posted a winning mark of 25.56. That topped the podium here by nearly half a second, with Ikee representing the only swimmer to get under teh 26-second threshold. She nabbed a new National University Student Record in the process.

Next up in the Olympic event of the 50m free, Ikee punched a gold medal-worthy result of 24.84. That, too, established a new National University Student Record.

Although Ikee’s 50m free result was outside the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF)-mandated Olympic standard of 24.46, her victory here is another symbol of how far this young woman has come in just a short amount of time after a year of being the hospital.

Katsumi Nakamura snagged the only sub-22-second time in the men’s 50m free, getting to the wall in 21.97. A quicker mark of 21.77 was needed to make the Tokyo squad in this event, although Nakamura has already qualified in the 100m free. Because of that, the JASF may allow him to swim this race, too, but it is at their discretion.

Olympian Shinri Shioura was shut out of the 50m free podium, placing 4th in 22.06. He missed the 100m free as well, meaning this World Championships finalist will not be representing his nation in Tokyo this summer.

Finally, a particularly tough blow was dealt to Shogo Takeda in the men’s 1500m freestyle. The distance swimmer fought his way to a massive time of 14:55.70, a result just over a second outside the longstanding national record. Takeda’s time also ranks as the man’s second-fastest ever sitting only behind his 14:55.42 from 2018.

However, after nearly 15 solid minutes of grueling competition in the event, Takeda’s final clocking fell just over half a second behind the JASF-mandated Olympic standard of 14:55.06. Takeda was clearly gutted after the race having to come to terms with this situation.