2014 Asian Games – Hagino Picks Up Two More Golds To Make Him Three For Four – Day Two Finals

 2014 ASIAN GAMES – SWIMMING

• Sunday, September 21st-Friday, September 26th
• Incheon, South Korea
• Prelims/Finals: 9AM/7PM local time
• Event website
• Entry lists
• Meet results

Schedule

• Women’s 50 butterfly
• Men’s 50 backstroke
• Women’s 100 freestyle
• Men’s 200 IM
• Women’s 200 breaststroke

Women’s 50 butterfly

• World record – 24.43 – Sarah Sjostrom – SWE (2014)
• Asian record – 25.42 – Lu Ying – CHN (2013)
• Asian Games record – 26.10 – Li Tao – SIN (2010)

After qualifying in a tie for first in the heats with a time of 26.46, Ying Lu of China and Li Tao were the two leaders heading into tonight’s final, yet tonight, it was all Ying.

Ying came flying into the wall with a new Asian Games record of 25.83 to blow past defending Asian Games 50m fly champion, Singapore’s Tao, who finished second almost half a second back in 26.28. Tao was the previous Asian Games record holder, owning it with a time of 26.10 that she set back in 2010 when she won gold.

Lan Liu of China also managed to get herself on the podium with a third place finish, clocking in at 26.72 to hold of Japan’s Misaki Yamaguchi, adding to the already impressive medal tally for the Chinese women.

Men’s 50 backstroke

• World record – 24.04 – Liam Tancock – GBR (2009)
• Asian record – 24.24 – Junya Koga – JPN (2009)
• Asian Games record – 24.46 – Junya Koga – JPN (2014)

Junya Koga absolutely dominated the race in the men’s 50m backstroke churning into the wall like a madman to grab the gold with a time of 24.28. That time was just four one-hundredths shy of the Asian record of 24.24, but did break his own Asian Games record of 24.46 which he set in prelims.

Koga’s countryman Ryosuke Irie finished second behind him with a time of 24.98 which was way off the mark which Koga swam, however was good enough to give the two Japanese swimmers a one-two finish here in Incheon.

Jiayu Xu of China rounded out the top three with a time of 25.24 which was almost a full second behind the winner.

Women’s 100 freestyle

• World record – 52.07 – Britta Steffen – GER (2009)
• Asian record – 53.13 – Pang Jiaying – CHN (2009)
• Asian Games record – 54.12 – Tang Yi – CHN (2010)

The Chinese women added another 1-2 finish, this time in the 100m freestyle with the likes of Duo Shen and Yi Tang.

Shen was first to the 50m wall splitting a 26.28 heading out to lead the charge early in the race. Miki Uchida of Japan was right with her, but evidently couldn’t hold on as she was passed by Tang on the way back and ended up slipping to third.

Shen touched first just ahead of Tang who had the fastest closing split (28.01) with her time of 54.37. That time wasn’t fast enough to break Tang’s Asian record of 54.12, but did manage to take down the defending champion who wasn’t fair behind in 54.45. Uchida, who touched third, was a 54.66.

Men’s 200 IM

• World record – 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte – USA (2011)
• Asian record – 1:55.38 – Kosuke Hagino – JPN (2014)
• Asian Games record – 1:58.31 – Ken Takakuwa – JPN (2010)

Kosuke Hagino of Japan displayed his dominance to the world once again with a win in the 200m IM here at the 2014 Asian Games. Hagino touched the wall in a time of 1:55.34 to break not only the Asian Games record, but the Asian record that he set this year in Japan.

That time not only is the fastest time in the world for 2014, but is  significantly faster than anything swum by anyone else, including world record holder Ryan Lochte and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps of the United States.

With the blistering fast time Hagino swam to win the 200m IM, he was over three seconds ahead of second place finisher Hiromasa Fujimori of Japan who touched the wall in 1:58.56. Third was Shun Wang of China in 1:59.10 who was just over a second ahead of fourth place finisher and University of Texas freshman Joseph Schooling.

That race makes Hagino two for two as he took down both Sun Yang and Park Tae Hwan last night in the 200m freestyle.

Women’s 200 breaststroke

• World record – 2:19.11 – Rikke Moeller Pedersen – DEN (2013)
• Asian record – 2:20.72 – Satomi Suzuki – JPN (2012)
• Asian record – 2:20.72 – Rie Kaneto – JPN (2009)
• Asian Games record – 2:23.93 – Qi Hui – CHN (2006)

2014 Pan Pacific Championships 200m breaststroke gold medallist Kanako Watanabe added another international gold medal to her tally this evening with a 2:21.82 win to break the previous Asian Games record that’s stood for eight years.

Watanabe led the race from start to finish, turning first at the 100m mark in 1:08.55 which was almost a full second ahead of closest competitor Rie Kaneto who was a 1:09.44 at the wall. Kaneto attempted to reel in the early leader, however ran out of pool and had to settle for silver just one tenth of a second behind her in 2:21.92.

Kaneto’s last 50 was remarkably faster than anyone else coming home as she split a 36.34. Watanabe had the second fastest last 50 despite losing six tenths of a second on it as she split a 36.96.

That win did however give the Japanese women a 1-2 finish. China’s Jinglin Shi earned herself the bronze well behind the leaders in 2:23.58.

Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay

• World record – 6:58.55 – USA (2009)
• Asian record – 7:02.26 – Japan (2009)
• Asian Games record – 7:07.68 – China (2010)

The 4x200m freestyle relay was no contest as Japan smoked the rest of the field to break the previous Asian Games record which was set by China back in 2010. The Japanese team which consisted of Yuki Kobori, Kosuke Hagino, Daiya Seto, and Takeshi Matsuda swam a time of 7:06.74 en route to gold.

The most notable split for the Japanese was the 1:44.97 swum by Hagino. This race was huge for not only the Japanese squad, but for Hagino himself as it gave him his third gold in three events making him three for four here in Incheon.

The Chinese team finished second, yet it was no competition without the likes of Sun Yang on the team. Yang injured his finger during the touch in yesterday’s 200m freestyle showdown, and his return to the meet was questionable. With his absence on the 4x200m freestyle relay it could indicate that Yang is either resting for his main events: the 400m and 1500m freestyle, or out of the meet entirely.

Without Yang, the Chinese team was able to throw together a 7:16.51. Korea finished third in 7:21.37.

For full meet results click here.