Seto & Hagino Tear Up World Rankings On Day 4 of 2015 Japanese Trials

It was no surprise to see one of Japan’s most lethal multi-event threats step it up and win the 200 butterfly event today. Coming off an incredible 2014, Daiya Seto is continuing to set a swift tone for this year, comfortably winning this event in a time of 1:54.63, the only swimmer to rock a sub-1:55 time so far this year.   Masato Sakai touched in second place with a 1:55.23 to take over the spot as 2nd-fastest in the world, followed by Takeshi Matsuda who rounded out the top three with a 1:56.02 for his efforts.  Matsuda is also ranked within the world’s top ten after that performance.

Two of the top three women from last year’s 2014 splash n’ dash race finished in identical order again this year. Miki Uchida led the field to a 50 free win in a time of 25.01, significantly faster than the 25.49 it took her to win the event at last year’s edition of the meet.  Yayoi Matsumoto was runner-up for the second year in a row, clocking a solid time of 25.19.  The big surprise was 15-year-old Rikako Ikee, who hammered out a 25.28 for third place.  With the Junior World Record sitting at 25.02, it shouldn’t be too long until Ikee fine-tunes this race enough to de-throne record holder Nasretdivova from Russia.

On the men’s side, Shinri Shioura successfully defended his 2014 50 freestyle title, although not quite at the same speed.  Last year’s 21.88 effort landed Shioura with a shiny new national record.  This year, it took Shioura just 22.15 to win the event.  Second and third place finishers were also repeat top three finalists from last year, but in a different order this time around.  Katsumi Nakamura took second place this year in a time of 22.34, followed by Kenta Ito with his time of 22.48 for third.

The women’s 200 IM event saw another new number one rise up from finals, with Kanako Watanabe throwing down a 2:09.81 to represent the world’s first sub-2:10 thus far in 2015.  Watanabe’s incredible effort knocks over a second off of the 2:11.04 it took her to win this event last year, and also earned her a new national record, surpassing the previous mark of 2:10.58.  More than two seconds back was the event’s second-place finisher Sakiko Shimizu in 2:11.96, followed by Rika Ohmoto in 2:12.14 for third.

Kosuke Hagino led the charge in a stacked 200 IM final, putting away the fastest time in the world yet again. Hagino’s previous world’s best from 2015 was 1:57.01, but he tore it apart in finals tonight, scoring a 1:56.30.Hagino’s race breakdown is as follows: 25.10, 54.01, 1:28.17, 1:56.30.  Hagino’s partner-in-beast-swims-crime, Daiya Seto fought hard and fell into second place in the event just half a second behind, earning the second-fastest time in the world in 1:56.82.  Hiromasa Fujimori battled to third place in a time of 1:58.14, which still sits him within the world’s top five in this race.

SEMI-FINALS

• Women’s 200 fly – Natsumi Hoshi claimed the top time from prelims, clocking a 2:09.12 to lead the field by over a full second.  Hoshi was last year’s title winner, winning the 2014 edition of this event in a time of 2:05.98, so look for her to step on the gas come finals. Yai Watanabe finished as the number two seed with a time of 2:10.73, followed by Haruno Itou who rounded out top three in 2:10.96
• Men’s 200 backstroke – No surprise to see dominating backstroker Ryosuke Irie at the top of the list coming out of semis.  Irie registered a solid 1:55.73 to give himself the 3rd-fastest ranked time in the world behind his won 1:54.62 mark, as well as Mitch Larkin’s (AUS) 1:55.52.
• Men’s 200 breaststroke – And, just like that, the Japanese men have taken over the top two spots on the world rankings in this event, led by Yasuhiro Koseki’s 2:09.73.  Ippei Watanabe snagged a new Junior World Record on his way to becoming the second seed, clocking a 2:09.89 to surpass his own previous JWR mark of 2:10.23 set back in June of 2014.  Koseki and Watanabe are the first two swimmers to dip beneath the 2:10-threshold thus far this year.