2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Day 1 Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Katsumi Nakamura has had a historical day already, becoming the first Japanese man under 48 seconds in the 100 free.
That swim was done as a lead-off for Japan’s 4×100 free relay, and as the relay concluded, Nakamura had made another mark in the record books– he’d helped the Japanese men break the national record set in 2014.
Splits
- JAPAN, Asian Games, 2014
- Shinri Shiroura 49.03
- Rammaru Harada 48.49
- Takuro Fujii 48.92
- Katsumi Nakamura 47.94
- TOTAL: 3:14.38
- JAPAN, Olympic Games prelims, 2016
- Katsumi Nakamura 47.99
- Shinri Shiroura 48.71
- Kenji Kobase 48.79
- Junya Koga 48.68
- TOTAL: 3:14.17
The two big things that made the difference here for the Japanese: 1) Nakamura popped a 47, but did so leading off this time around rather than anchoring back in 2014, and 2) no swims over 48 seconds. They took a total of 21 hundredths off of the old recod.
Nakamura has improved since 2014, and with three very consistent 48-mid/highs right behind him, the Japanese were able to get it done and lower the national record. They qualified 8th for the 4×100 free relay final tonight, and will look to improve upon their time and seeding in finals.
Does Hagino ever do this relay? He has a great freestyle, and his 100 backstroke is sub 53. How bad could his 100 freestyle be? Surely he is capable of splitting 48.0 or faster
He will. These teams/ swimmers have been inspired by Ledecky surely. Real recognize real, and Japan Swimming and Hagino is real.