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
- Live Results
- Livestream
The first finals session of the 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials gets underway as swimmers vie for slots on the nation’s roster for Paris.
Among the contestants today are Rikako Ikee, Ippei Watanabe and Waka Kobori. We’ll see the women’s 100m fly and men’s 100m breast semi-finals, followed by the finals of the men’s and women’s 400m free. The non-Olympic men’s 50m back final will cap off the session.
WOMEN’S 100 FLY – SEMI-FINAL
- Japanese National Record – 56.08 – Rikako Ikee, 2018
- Asian Record – 55.62 – Zhang Yufei (CHN), 2020
- World Record – 55.48 – Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2016
- JASF QT – 57.34
Top 8:
- Rikako Ikee, 57.03
- Mizuki Hirai, 57.13
- Shiho Matsumoto, 57.46 *New Student Record
- Ai Soma, 57.65
- Natsuki Hiroshita, 57.73
- Chiharo Iizuka – 58.11
- Nagisa Ikemoto, 58.46
- Tomohiro Mizuguchi, 58.53
23-year-old Rikako Ikee wowed the crowd in this women’s 100m fly semi-final by posting a speedy outing of 57.03. That got her hand on the wall to land lane 4 for tomorrow night’s final ahead of 17-year-old Mizuki Hirai.
Hirai clocked a lifetime best of 57.23 in the morning and shaved another .10 off tonight to check in at 57.13. Both women dipped under the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF)-mandated qualification standard of 57.34, although they’ll need to repeat that caliber of performance in tomorrow night’s final.
Ikee’s time represents her fastest since returning to competitive swimming after having battled leukemia for most of 2019. The sprinter and two-time Olympian is the Japanese record holder in this event with her best time of 56.08, which she recorded en route to gold at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships.
She’s been training under Michael Bohl in Australia since the fall.
Ikee competed last month at a meet in Australia, the Victorian Open Championships, where she clipped Emma McKeon en route to winning the 50 fly (25.84). She also posted times of 25.51 in the 50 free, 55.45 in the 100 free, and 58.40 in the 100 fly.
Shiho Matsumoto, Ai Soma and Natsuki Hiroshita also delved into 57-second territory in respective efforts of 57.46, 57.65 and 57.73. Matsumoto’s result represents a new Japanese student record.
Ikee and Hirai check in as the 12th & 13th fastest women in the world this season.
MEN’S 100 BREAST – SEMI-FINAL
- Japanese National Record – 58.78 – Yasuhiro Koseki, 2018
- Asian Record – 57.69 – Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2023
- World Record – 56.88 – Adam Peaty (GBR), 2019
- JASF QT – 59.26
Top 8:
- Yamato Fukasawa, 59.41
- Taku Taniguchi, 59.62
- Yu Hanaguruma, 59.63
- Ippei Watanabe, 59.64
- Hayato Watanabe, 1:00.15
- Reio Okura, 1:00.29
- Tatsuya Takera, 1:00.49
- Ryoma Koizumi, 1:00.50
The men’s 100m breast saw the top 4 finishers all dip under the 1:00 barrier to stake their claim on a potential Olympic berth in the event.
Rising star Yamato Fukasawa upgraded his 2nd seed out of the morning heats to claim the top spot, producing a time of 59.41.
That holds a .21 advantage over Taku Taniguchi who touched in 59.62 while 2022 World Championships silver medalist in the 200m breast, Yu Hanaguruma, snagged the 3rd seed in 59.63.
Former 200m breast world record holder Ippei Watanabe represented the 4th sub-1:00 swimmer, hitting 59.64 to remain in the mix.
As a refresher, Fukasawa recently fired off a 2:07.07 in 200m breaststroke just last month, and will be among that hotly-contested field this week as well.
The men will be hunting the JASF-set QT of 59.26, a time only one active swimmer, Shoma Sato, has exceeded in his career. Sato placed a disappointing 23rd this morning in a swim of 1:01.38 to miss the semi-final.
WOMEN’S 400 FREE – FINAL
- Japanese National Record – 4:05.19 – Ai Shibata, 2007
- Asian Record – 4:01.08 – Li Bingjie (CHN), 2021 & 2023
- World Record – 3:55.38 – Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 2023
- JASF QT – 4:05.34
GOLD – Miyu Namba, 4:06.10
SILVER – Waka Kobori, 4:06.20
BRONZE – Kinuko Mochizuki, 4:09.18
As expected, this women’s 400m free final wound up being a two-athlete battle to the wall between Miyu Namba and Waka Kobori.
21-year-old Namba got the golden touch at the end, putting up a time of 4:06.10. Kobori was just a hair off, settling for silver in 4:06.20. The next-closest competitor was Kinuko Mochizuki who rounded out the podium well back in 4:09.18.
Unfortunately, both Namba and Kobori were off the Olympic selection standard of 4:05.34 needed to punch their tickets to Paris. Only Namba has been beneath that benchmark in her career, owning a personal best of 4:05.25 from the 2022 Japanese Selection Trials to become the #2 Japanese performer in history.
Post-race, Namba stated, “It’s frustrating, but there’s still tomorrow, so I want to switch things up. I just want to show the results I’ve been practicing.” (Sponichi)
MEN’S 400 FREE – FINAL
- Japanese National Record – 3:43.90 – Kosuke Hagino, 2014
- Asian Record – 3:40.14 – Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
- World Record – 3:40.07 – Paul Biedermann (GER), 2009
- JASF QT – 3:45.85
GOLD – Ikki Immoto, 3:49.69
SILVER – Kenta Ozaki, 3:50.40
BRONZE – Tatsuya Murasa, 3:50.42
There were no fireworks in the men’s 400m free final, as just one swimmer clocked a time under 3:50.
Ikki Imoto indeed got it done for gold; however, his winning result of 3:49.69 fell well short of the necessary 3:45.85 standarded for Paris.
Kenta Ozaki fell from top seed to runner-up status, logging 3:50.44, just off his 3:50.33 field-leading morning swim.
Bronze went to Tatsuya Murasa who produced a mark of 3:50.42 as the bronze medalist.
MEN’S 50 BACK – FINAL
- Japanese National Record – 24.24 – Junya Koga, 2009
- Asian Record – 24.24 – Junya Koga (JPN), 2009
- World Record – 23.55 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2023
GOLD – Reo Miura, 25.26
SILVER – Junya Koga, 25.31
BRONZE – Yusuke Sato, 25.46
The session wrapped up with the final of the men’s 50m back, a non-Olympic event.
Reo Miura clinched the victory with a time of 25.26, out-touching 36-year-old Junya Koga who scored silver in 25.31.
Yusuke Sato wrangled the bronze in 25.56.
Important to note is the fact that top-seeded Rikui Matsuyama dropped the final but his prelim result of 25.12 would have taken the gold.
Additionally, Asian media is reporting that Koga is retiring after this competition. Look for an additional post on that milestone.
In the comments, I see many people expressing their dissatisfaction with the rigidity of the qualification process, and I totally agree with them.
I would keep the 3 rounds format so that swimmers can understand the toll it takes physically and mentally to put together 3 great swims cuz that’s the format AQUA does for World Champs and the Olympics.
Even though countries like Great Britain and Australia have shown the merits of having strict qualification standards, I would like Japan to lower the qualifying standard to the Olympic qualifying time so that you have more swimmers experience the tension you only experience at an international meet and also they can understand first-hand the sheer gap that exists… Read more »
Why are they swimming 50s besides free?
For laughs and giggles. But, some swimmers may use it to test their speed in prep for the 100.
Hoping to see a 56 from Rikako tonight 🙏
Day 1 = zero Olympians. Perhaps Japan needs to reconsider their selection process.
It’s fine. Japan has traditionally never been a good mid-distance, distance nation so I didn’t really expect anyone to qualify Day 1. Hopefully the Women’s 100 Fly and Men’s 100 Breast can generate some good vibes that carry over the rest of the meet.
I don’t understand why the Japanese have 3 rounds meet and then you have to hit their special qualification time in the final.
If you can ONLY qualify with your time in the final why not choose a system with 2 rounds? Prelims and finals. If you want to have a 3 round meet at least let the times from semis and prelims count for qualification provided that the swimmer hits the standart in any round and finishes top 2 or something like that.
It seems that the Japanese have to through so many hurdles to qualify that it causes a big negative effect in them
Agree, JASF is notorious for being too rigid and needs to follow the rest of the world into the modern era
A fair criticism but their process is actually fairly clear-cut; unlike GBR’s.
Can see the notional argument for 3 rounds; ie mirroring the process of the major events BUT when you haven’t the depth in your events to make them meaningful …… ?
The cold reality is that only one team will have the requisite spread and depth to be able to field a “full slate” in Paris (namely 2 entrants in every individual event) and that’s USA. AUS cannot, neither can CHN.
I have 0 issues with countries setting some QTs that are more demanding than those of World Aquatics but these need to be realistic. IF you have the strength in a particular event where the WA… Read more »
Having just visited there last week, I would say this set-up is a microcosm of Japan’s culture at large – impressively organized, but overly rigid to the detriment of their people (‘s emotional well-being).
As a person with Japanese heritage myself, I cannot agree with this more.
Japanese culture is firmly based on several unquestionable principles and a highly demanding set of expectations for their citizens to adhere to.
It is easy for a foreigner to see why this may burn some people out, but this has been the foundation on which Japanese society has been built upon for so long that if one were to go against it, everyone would shame them for doing so.
Change is hard to come by and usually only comes when it is absolutely necessary. I sadly do not think that JASF has reached this point yet or will reach this point until none of their swimmers earn… Read more »
The fact that they choose to put their trials in March continues to baffle me
They maintain antiquated schedule and format (3-rounds) that has been ineffective for many Olympics.
I remember the Japanese absolutely popped off in London but in Rio and Tokyo (and Fukuoka) they absolutely flopped. You’d think they would have learned their lesson by now.
And tough QTs that force all their swimmers to do a full taper and peak at trials.
Eh, I don’t think a full taper in March/April and July/August is too much – Plenty of athletes from plenty of nations cope with a similar calendar just fine. What is perhaps unique to Japan is how much high level long course racing their athletes do through the winter before spring trials – Japan Open, Konami Open, Kosuke Kitajima Cup, Inter-College meets/championships that are routinely extremely fast. They’re basically 5/6 months into LC racing by the time their trials happen – It must be tough to get there and know you have another 5 months until your major peak. The Aussies race similarly through our NH winter, and moving their trials seems to have helped them with their July/August peak… Read more »
First time it’s in March; historically been April
Good to see Watanabe returning to his best, I think he will have something special for the 200.
Very concerned about Shoma Sato, the man needs to find another gear desperately…..
LETS GO RIKAKO!!!!!!!!!!!!