Top 12 Swimmers Separated by 1 Second in Men’s 100 Fly at Japan Trials

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
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Prelims Only)

Day 6 of the Japan Swim Olympic Trials is now underway, following the prelims session of the women’s 800 freestyle, men’s 100 butterfly, and women’s 200 backstroke. In our preview, we knew the men’s 100 fly was going to be an exciting battle as Japan has 4 swimmers within the top 15 fastest 100 butterfliers in the world this season. That battle clearly began this morning, with the top 12 swimmers touching the wall within 1 second of each other.

Women’s 800 Freestyle

Top 3 Qualifiers:

1. Miyu Namba – 8:33.74
2. Waka Kobori – 8:34.84
3. Chinatsu Sato – 8:37.14

Chinatsu Sato was right behind World Junior Championships silver medalist Miyu Namba at the halfway point, flipping at 4:16.75 to 17-year-old Namba’s 4:15.44. Kobori was 3 seconds behind Sato. Sato snagged 2nd in the 1500 freestyle final on Tuesday.

Kobori’s season-best time of 8:27.08 from the 2021 Japan Open ranks her #9 in the world this season. Kobori and Sato placed 1-3 in this event at the 2019 World University Games.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Top 3 Qualifiers:

1. Naoki Mizunuma – 51.92
2. Takeshi Kawamoto – 52.08
3. Yuya Tanaka – 52.17

Naoki Mizunuma, whose season best time of 51.34 is the 5th fastest 100 butterfly in the world this season, claimed the top semifinals spot with a time of 51.92. Close behind were ISL standout Takeshi Kawamoto and Yuya Tanaka who touched the wall at 52.08 and 52.17, respectively.  Kawamoto took out the first 50  a whole .52 faster than Mizunuma, showing that Mizunuma really pushed the last 50 meters.

The entire prelims event was a close race, with the top 12 men finishing within 1 second of each other. We are sure to see equally exciting battles in both the semifinals and finals. On the edge of the semifinals cutoff is Tomoru Honda, ranked 16th with a time of 53.13.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Top 3 Qualifiers:

1. Marina Furubayashi – 2:11.71
2. Anna Konishi – 2:12.20
3. Sayaka Akase – 2:12.93

Anna Konishi had a half-a-second lead over Marina Furubayashi at the 100 meter mark, but that was not enough to fend off the 2021 Japan Open Champion. Furubayashi broke 2:10:00 in December with a time  of 2:09.95 which ranks her #22 in the world this season. Konishi is currently ranked #22 with her season best time of 2:10.73.

Natsumi Sakai, the highest-ranked Japanese woman in the event this season at#12 in the world finished in 7th place with a time of 2:14.32. Rio Shirai, ranked #17 in the world this year, DNS’d the race.