Tokyo 2020 Day 3 Prelims All-Star: Tomoe Hvas Cuts 1.4s From Nat’l Record

2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
  • Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
• Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
• Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
• Full aquatics schedule
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• Entry Lists
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• Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet

Tomoe Hvas is representing Norway in the 2020 Olympics. But he’s as at home as anyone in Tokyo, returning to his swimming roots.

Hvas’ father is Norwegian, his mother Japanese. Wanting their son to gain a foothold in both of his nationalities, the family lived in Japan from 2007 to 2010. According to a profile from Norway’s TV2, his time in Japan was when Hvas first started with the sport of swimming.

Just ten when his family moved back to Norway, Hvas has taken over as one of the top competitors for his nation, setting Norwegian records in the 200 free, 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 IM in long course meters. In tonight’s Tokyo Olympic prelims, Hvas crushed his own 200 fly record by 1.4 seconds.

Hvas is a fast riser in the event, cutting from 1:59.1 in 2017 to 1:57.8 in the spring of 2019. Tonight’s swim was another massive step forward: a 1:56.30 that lowed his national mark by almost a second and a half. Hvas entered the meet seeded 31st in this event; he moved all the way up to 19th in heats, very nearly making the semifinals.

That bodes very well for Hvas’s two remaining events. He’s the 29th seed into the 200 IM and is also entered in the 100 fly.

Tokyo 2020 Prelims All-Stars

• Day 1: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – Men’s 400 freestyle
• Day 2 Tamsin Cook (AUS) – Women’s 400 freestyle
• Day 3: Tomoe Hvas (NOR) – Men’s 200 butterfly