2024 JAPANESE OLYMPIC TRIALS
- Sunday, March 17th – Sunday, March 24th
- Tokyo Aquatics Center
- LCM (50m)
- Japan’s Olympic Selection Criteria
- Entries
- SwimSwam Entries Post
- Preview #1 / Preview #2
- Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap| Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap| Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap| Day 4 Finals Recap
- Live Result
- Livestream
It’s day five of the 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials and we are officially halfway through the meet. There was a short prelims session over in Japan this morning, with only four events to cover: the women’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 200 backstroke, women’s 200 butterfly, and women’s 50 backstroke.
In the women’s 200 breast heats, 33-year-old Satomi Suzuki punched the fastest time in 2:25.80. Earlier in the week, Suzuki fired off a new lifetime best of 1:05.91 en route to winning the women’s 100m breaststroke, qualifying for Paris in the process.
While Suzuki has focused on the sprints over the past few years, this 200m distance was once her best event. At the London 2012 Olympics, she claimed bronze in the 100 breast (1:06.46) before snagging silver in the 200m (2:20.92) distance.
Yumeno Kusada was 2nd quickest during prelims, clocking 2:26.33 en route to winning the final heat. The 18-year-old boasts a best time of 2:25.70 in the event and may have that in her sights once the semifinals roll around.
27-year-old Kanako Watanabe, who was crowned World Champion in 2015, hit the wall in 2:26.47 for 3rd overall as we head into the next round. She’s been as quick as 2:20.90 in the event, a time that she put on the board prior to the 2015 World Championships. Versatile Runa Imai, who’s just 23, sits 4th at 2:26.78. Imai owns a career-best 2:22.98 in this event, and also specializes in a variety of other disciplines, but has opted to focus on breaststroke this year.
Imai’s Additional Best Times:
- 50 Freestyle — 24.93
- 100 Freestyle — 54.82
- 100 Breaststroke — 1:06.91
- 200 IM — 2:09.99
- 400 IM — 4:41.52
Shuichi Takehara (1:56.90) was the fastest men’s 200 backstroker during prelims, as he stopped the clock in the only sub-1:57 effort. It was a new best time for Takehara, who cut off 0.03 from his previous best that he set almost exactly a year ago. More importantly, his time in the heats already undercuts the Japanese Olympic qualifying time of 1:56.92, so he looks to be on the right path with two more rounds to go.
After missing the qualification standard in the 100m distance, backstroke legend Ryosuke Irie touched in 1:58.82 for 2nd this morning. Irie, now 34, holds the national record in both the 100 (52.21) and 200 (1:52.54) backstrokes. He produced both of those records back in 2009.
The women’s 200 fly was led by Airi Mitsui, who put her hands on the wall in 2:09.59. She was the only competitor to enter the sub-2:10 realm, with Chiho Mizuguchi (2:10.16) and Ageha Tanigawa (2:10.58) the only other individuals under 2:11.
Mitsui, only 19, has a lifetime best of 2:06.77 in this event, which is under the 2:07.95 qualifying time set by Swimming Japan. She won the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific title (2:07.82) in this event and placed 5th in the final of the 2023 World Championships (2:07.15).
Mizuguchi clocked a time of 2:08.22 back at the 2022 World Championship Trials, so she’s in contention to notch a qualifying time as well.
The women’s 50 back heats ended the session, with Miki Takahashi (28.56) clearing the field by 0.11. She posted a time of 27.84 in this event at the Fukuoka World Championships last July, where she ultimately placed 14th. That time still stands as her lifetime best, and makes her the early favorite for tonight’s final.
Hikaru Yamazaki (28.67) and Miri Sasaki (28.68) qualified 2nd and 3rd behind Takahashi, respectively. Yamazaki narrowly missed her best time of 28.46, while Sasaki was about three tenths shy of her 28.36 marker from September’s World Junior Championships.
