2024 Japanese Olympic Trials: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

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
• Day 5 Prelims Recap
• Live Result
• Livestream

Session Preview:

The fifth evening session of the 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials includes finals of the women’s 100 freestyle, men’s 200 butterfly, men’s 200 breaststroke, women’s 1500 freestyle, men’s 100 freestyle, and women’s 50 backstroke. Olympic spots are up for grabs in each of those events, minus the women’s 50 back.

We’ll also see semifinal action for the men’s 200 backstroke, women’s 200 breaststroke, and women’s 200 butterfly, as preliminary heats of those events took place earlier in the day.

The men’s 200 breast may be the deepest event here in Tokyo, with former world record holder Ippei Watanabe, national record holder Shoma Sato, 2022 World Championships silver medalist Yu Hanaguruma, and 2:07.0 swimmer Yamato Fukasawa all in the mix. Watanabe led the way during Wednesday’s semifinals, touching in the only sub-2:08 time of 2:07.92.

The men’s 200 fly will also be a great race, and it will feature Olympic silver medalist and reigning world champion Tomoru Honda. National record holder Daiya Seto will also line-up for the final, and he’s still looking to book his ticket to Paris after missing the 400 IM qualification standard.

Katsuhiro Matsumoto, (49.00) and Rikako Ikee (54.32) are ranked 1st for the 100 free finals, but both have secured Paris qualification in another event already. Matsumoto won the 200 free earlier this week in 1:45.29, dipping under the required qualifying time in the process. Ikee was runner-up in the 100 fly but was under the Paris time standard by 0.04.

27-year-old Yukimi Moriyama (16:16.39) outpaced 22-year-old Airi Ebina (16:17.75) by just over a second during the women’s 1500 free qualifying round. They will swim side-by-side in tonight’s final, but they’ll both need to break 16:00 for the first time to snag the Olympic qualification time (15:59.92). Both swimmers would need to drop more than 14 seconds from their best times to reach the standard.

Semifinals of the women’s 200 fly will showcase rising star Airi Mitsui, who owns a lifetime best of 2:06.77 in the event. The 19-year-old placed 5th at the Fukuoka World Championships last July, and won the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific title. Mitsui is the 5th Japanese woman to ever swim in the 2:06 range.

Veteran Satomi Suzuki is the top qualifier for the women’s 200 breast semifinals, as she clocked a time of 2:25.80 on Thursday morning.

Shuichi Takehara (1:56.90) threw down in the men’s 200 back heats, and Ryosuke Irie (1:58.82) is still seeking Paris qualification here in Tokyo. They’ll both have the opportunity to advance to tomorrow’s final, and the semifinals will commence tonight’s schedule.

The final event of this session will be the women’s 50 back, and it’s highlighted by Miki Takahashi (28.56). She was 14th at the Fukuoka World Championships last July, where she posted her current best time of 27.84.

MEN’s 200 BACKSTROKE — SEMI-FINALS

• Japanese National Record — 1:52.51 — Ryosuke Irie, 2009
• Asian Record — 1:52.51 — Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 2009
• World Record — 1:51.92 — Aaron Peirsol (USA), 2009
• JASF QT — 1:56.92

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Shuichi Takehara, 1:56.63
2. Ryosuke Irie, 1:58.22
3. Osamu Kato, 1:58.45
4. Keita Sunama, 1:58.85
5. Yusuke Sato, 1:58.87
6. Tasaki Murakami, 1:58.98
7. Yui Yamashita, 1:59.29
8. Ito Tomohiro, 1:59.50

After popping a new lifetime best (1:56.90) by 0.03 during the heats, Shuichi Takehara continued his momentum in the semifinals. He touched the wall in 1:56.63 to win the second semifinal, representing his 2nd best time on the day. He also undercut the Japanese Olympic standard of 1:56.92 in the process, which bodes well for Friday’s final.

His time ranks 11th in the world so far this season, and would have earned him 6th at the recent Doha World Championships last month.

Splits Comparison:

National record holder Ryosuke Irie dropped 0.60 from his prelim swim, advancing to tomorrow’s final in 2nd overall (1:58.22). 34-year-old Irie holds the national record in both the 100 (52.21) and 200 (1:52.54) backstrokes, times that he produced down in 2009.

Irie was 2nd in the 100 back (54.10) on night three of this competition, but missed the qualification standard of 53.21, so he’s still on the hunt to make the Paris team. He clocked 53.46 at the Asian Games in September, but wasn’t able to near that mark here in Tokyo.

Osamu Kato rounded out the top three in 1:58.45, just off his best time of 1:57.89. The 28-year-old set his best time fairly recently, as it was posted at December’s Japan Open. It took a time of 1:59.50 to earn a berth in the championship final tomorrow night.

WOMEN’s 200 BREASTSTROKE — SEMI-FINALS

• Japanese National Record — 2:19.65 — Rie Kaneto, 2016
• Asian Record — 2:19.65 — Rie Kaneto (JPN), 2016
• World Record — 2:17.55 — Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2023
• JASF QT — 2:23.31

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Satomi Suzuki, 2:24.59
2. Kanako Watanabe, 2:25.05
3. Runa Imai, 2:25.39
4. Shintomi Kato, 2:26.09
5. Yumeno Kusuda, 2:26.10
6. Mina Nakazawa & Yukino Miyasaka, 2:27.00
7. –
8. Katomi Sato, 2:27.02

33-year-old Satomi Suzuki is on fire this week in Tokyo. After winning the 100 breast earlier this week in an Olympic qualifying time (1:05.91), she is now seeded 1st (2:24.59) going into the 200 breast final. Her 100 breast swim earlier in the week marked her first ever sub-1:06 time.

Suzuki was a two-time medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, where she claimed bronze in the 100 breast (1:06.46) before elevating to silver in the 200m (2:20.92) distance.

27-year-old Kanako Watanabe, who was crowned World Champion in 2015, hit the wall in 2:25.05 to rank 2nd. 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.

Runa Imai (2:25.39), who’s just 23, finished 3rd overall in the only other sub-2:26 time. Imai owns a career-best 2:22.98 in this event, and also specializes in a variety of other disciplines (50 free, 100 free, & 200 IM), but has opted to focus on breaststroke this year.

WOMEN’s 200 BUTTERFLY — SEMI-FINALS

• Japanese National Record — 2:04.69 — Natsumi Hoshi, 2012
• Asian Record — 2:01.81 — Liu Zige (CHN), 2009
• World Record — 2:01.81 — Liu Zige (CHN), 2009
• JASF QT — 2:07.95

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Airi Mitsui, 2:08.42
2. Hiroko Makino, 2:08.61
3. Chiho Mizuguchi, 2:09.21
4. Yasushi Fujimoto, 2:09.80
5. Karin Uchida, 2:10.09
6. Ageha Tanigawa, 2:10.36
7. Misa Okuzono, 2:10.65
8. Suzuka Hasegawa, 2:10.79

The women’s 200 fly semifinals were led by Airi Mitsui, who finished in 2:08.42. Mitsui, who is still 19-years-old, has a lifetime best of 2:06.77 in the 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) and placed 5th in the final of the 2023 World Championships (2:07.15).

Veteran Hiroko Makino situated herself in 2nd place going into the final, touching the wall in 2:08.61. She’ll need to dip into the 2:07-range to book her ticket to Paris, but she’s been 2:06.92 before, so it’s definitely a realistic target.

Chiho Mizuguchi sits 3rd at 2:09.21, but she’s been as quick as 2:08.22 back at the 2022 World Championship Trials. Lurking in 8th is 24-year-old Suzuka Hasegawa, who owns a lifetime best of 2:05.62 from August of 2020. Hasegawa placed 9th at the Tokyo Olympics, where she finished in a much slower time of 2:09.42.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• Japanese National Record – 52.79 – Rikako Ikee, 2018
• Asian Record – 52.02 – Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 2023
• World Record – 51.71 – Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2017
• JASF QT – 53.12

Podium:

GOLD – Rikako Ikee, 54.15
SILVER – Nagisa Ikemoto, 54.20
BRONZE – Yume Jinno, 54.84

National record holder Rikako Ikee reaped gold in tonight’s 100 free final, touching in a final time of 54.15. While she was over a second off the 53.12 qualification time set by Swimming Japan, she is already qualified for Paris via her 2nd place 100 fly (57.34) finish from earlier this week.

Ikee, who recently moved to Australia to train under the tutelage of Michael Bohl, owns the national record in this event (52.79) from 2018. After clocking a season-best effort of 54.32 last night, she posted another en route to victory tonight.

Ikee had a tight battle with 21-year-old Nagisa Ikemoto the whole way, and the two approached the race quite differently. Ikemoto utilized her easy speed through the first half, but Ikee roared home in 27.75 to overtake Ikemoto over the final five meters.

Splits Comparison:

Tonight’s race had serious relay implications, as the women were chasing 4x100m free qualification for Paris. They needed the top 4 finishers to average 54.15, which ultimately did not happen. Ikee matched that average down to the hundredth, but only three swimmers in the field broke 55-seconds.

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• Japanese National Record – 1:52.53 – Daiya Seto, 2020
• Asian Record – 1:52.53 – Daiya Seto (JPN), 2020
• World Record – 1:50.34 – Kristof Milak (HUN), 2022
• JASF QT – 1:55.27

Podium: 

GOLD – Genki Terakado, 1:54.07 *Olympic Qualification
SILVER – Tomoru Honda, 1:54.18 *Olympic Qualification
BRONZE – Daiya Seto, 1:55.40 

Genki Terakado had the swim of his life in the men’s 200 fly final, dethroning defending World Champion Tomoru Honda to snag gold. The pair touched just 0.11 apart at the finish, with both swimmers eclipsing the 1:55.27 qualification standard. Terkakado’s final time of 1:54.07 is a new lifetime best, while Honda (1:54.18) was a bit shy of his 1:52.70 best time tonight.

Honda swam with a sprained ankle at February’s World Championship meet, before ultimately pulling out of the meet entirely after his gold medal-winning 200 fly. Honda’s swim tonight represents a redemption of sorts, as he missed the final of the men’s 400m IM earlier this week despite owning the nation’s season-best time entering the meet.

Terkakado kept all of his 50 splits under 30 seconds, showcasing how consistency won him the title. Honda blasted out through the 150 with a huge advantage, out-splitting the field on each of the first three 50s. However, Honda faded over the final 40 meters of the race, and Terakado’s consistent sub-30 splits were ultimately too much to overcome.

Splits Comparison:

National record holder Daiya Seto clocked-in at 1:55.40, enough for 3rd place overall. Seto missed the 400 IM qualification standard earlier this week, despite finishing 2nd in that race.

After leading all qualifiers through the heats and ranking 2nd after yesterday’s semifinals, 26-year-old Takumi Terada settled for 4th tonight. He touched the wall in 1:55.45, a bit shy of his 1:54.81 best time from last April.

While Honda still leads the world rankings, courtesy of his Asian Games time of 1:53.15, Terakado elevates himself to 2nd place status.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• Japanese National Record – 2:06.40 – Shoma Sato, 2021
• Asian Record – 2:05.48 – Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2023
• World Record – 2:05.48 – Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2023
• JASF QT – 2:08.48

Podium:

GOLD – Ippei Watanabe, 2:06.94 *Olympic Qualification
SILVER – Yu Hanaguruma, 2:07.07 *Olympic Qualification
BRONZE – Yamato Fukasawa, 2:07.75

Former world record holder Ippei Watanabe staked his claim on the men’s 200 breast field, securing victory in his first sub-2:07 swim since 2019. He led the race from start to finish, splitting 28.59 at the 50 before hitting the 100 in 1:00.99. He held on for the win by 0.13, as 2022 World Championships silver medalist Yu Hanaguruma charged over the final 100. Hanaguruma earned the 2nd Olympic qualifying spot in 2:07.07, a best time by nearly a full second.

Yamato Fukasawa, who posted a time of 2:07.07 just last month, was 3rd tonight in a slightly slower effort of 2:07.75. If he matched his best time from last month, he would’ve tied Hanaguruma for 2nd tonight. Hanaguruma now ties Fukasawa was the 4th fastest Japanese man in history.

Top 5 Japanese 200 Breaststrokers In History, Updated:

1. Shoma Sato – 2:06.40, 2021
2. Ippei Watanabe – 2:06.67, 2017
3. Akihiro Yamaguchi – 2:07.01, 2012
4. Yamato Fukasawa & Yu Hanaguruma — 2:07.07, 2024
5. –

The time from Watanabe represents the fastest time in the world this season, overtaking his previous mark of 2:07.02 from earlier this year. Hanaguruma’s 2:07.07 situates him equal 3rd on the world rankings. Of note, National record holder Shoma Sato checked-in at 5th overall, finishing in a final time of 2:09.92. He’s been as quick as 2:06.40 in his career and posted multiple sub-2:07 swims in 2021.

WOMEN’s 1500 FREESTYLE — FINAL

• Japanese National Record  — 15:58.55 — Ai Shibata, 2007
• Asian Record — 15:41.49 — Wang Jianjiahe (CHN), 2021
• World Record — 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky (USA), 2018
• JASF QT — 15:59.92

Podium:

GOLD – Airi Ebina, 16:07.00
SILVER – Yukimi Moriyama, 16:12.72
BRONZE – Ichika Kajimoto, 16:15.40

During prelims, we saw 27-year-old Yukimi Moriyama (16:16.39) outpace 22-year-old Airi Ebina (16:17.75) by just over a second. Tonight, the rolls were reversed, with Ebina taking the win (16:07.00). The time from Ebina demolished her previous best from prelims by over 10 seconds, while Moriyama eclipsed her 2019 best time by a second.

The Paris qualifying time was set at a stiff 15:59.92, so no swimmers will feature in this event for Japan at the upcoming Olympic Games.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• Japanese National Record – 47.85 – Katsuhiro Matsumoto, 2023
• Asian Record – 46.80 – Pan Zhanle (CHN), 2024
• World Record – 46.80 – Pan Zhanle (CHN), 2024
• JASF QT – 47.97

Podium:

GOLD – Katsuhiro Matsumoto, 48.28
SILVER – Kaiya Seki, 48.83
BRONZE – Juran Mizohata, 48.98

Katsuhiro Matsumoto was the victor in tonight’s 100 free final, punching the wall in a winning time of 48.28. While his time is shy of both his national record (47.85) and the Japanese Swimming Federation’s Olympic qualifying time (47.97), he’s already qualified for Paris in the 200 free.

Kaiya Seki (48.83) was finished runner-up, clipping his previous best of 48.87 by 0.04. He only snuck into the final in 8th after yesterday’s semifinals, so he took full advantage of the opportunity. Juran Mizohata (48.98) bagged bronze, marking his first time under 49-seconds AND his first best time in this event since 2018.

As was the case in the women’s race, the swimmers tonight were chasing relay qualification for Paris. The top 4 finishers needed to average 48.42 to get the 4×100 free nod, which they failed to do.

Four men did break 49 seconds though, which was a significant improvement from the semifinals, where no one cracked the barrier.

WOMEN’s 50 BACKSTROKE — FINAL

• Japanese National Record — 27.51 — Aya Terakawa, 2013
• Asian Record — 26.98 — Liu Xiang (CHN), 2018
• World Record — 26.86 — Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2023

Podium:

GOLD – Miki Takahashi, 28.29
SILVER – Miri Sasaki, 28.32
BRONZE – Tomoko Takeha, 28.62

The final event of the session did not disappoint, as 0.03 seperated gold and silver in the women’s 50 back. Miki Takahashi (28.29) put her hand on the wall for gold, knocking a few tenths off her prelim time of 28.56.

Takahashi notched 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.

Miri Sasaki finished 2nd to Takahashi tonight in 28.32, knocking down her previous best of 28.36 from September’s World Junior Championships.