Tennessee Commit Mizuki Hirai Fires Off New SCM 100 Fly Asian Record

The 31st Sagamihara City Short Course Championship

• Saturday, February 22nd & Sunday, February 23rd
• Sagamihara, Japan
• SCM (25m)
• Results

The 31st Sagamihara City Short Course Championship kicked off today and 17-year-old Japanese native Mizuki Hirai wasted no time making her presence known at the in-season domestic meet.

Racing in the women’s SCM 100 butterfly final on day one of the two-day competition, University of Tennessee commit Hirai fired off a new Asian continental and Japanese national record of 55.10.

Opening in 25.60 and closing in 29.50, Hirai overtook the longstanding Asian record of 55.25 formerly held by China’s Lu Ying. Lu split 26.10/29.15 when she put that result on the books en route to earning silver at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.

The previous Japanese national record stood at the 55.31 3-time Olympian Rikako Ikee established in the 2018 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series.

Entering this meet, Hirai’s fastest SCM 100 fly time rested at the 55.61 logged at last year’s Short Course World Championships to place 5th in the event. That means she hacked just over half a second off that previous PB to score the new Asian Record.

Hirai has already competed thus far in 2025, including at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup in January when she notched the #1 LCM 100 fly time in the world at 56.99.