2019 KOSUKE KITAJIMA CUP
- Saturday, November 17th, 2018 & Sunday, November 18th, 2018
- Tatsumi International Swim Centre
- Tokyo, Japan
- Meet Site
- LCM
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 1 Results
- Day 2 Results
There’s racing ‘tired’, then there’s racing ‘Rikako Ikee-style tired’, which includes clocking a new National Record after a tremendous year of a never-ending racing season.
While competing on the 2nd day of the 2019 (yes, 2019) Kosuke Kitajima Cup in Tokyo, this year’s Asian Games MVP ripped a new women’s 100m freestyle national mark of 52.79 to take gold.
Splitting 25.84/26.95, Ikee dipped under the 53-second threshold for the first time in her young career, obliterating her previous personal best and Japanese NR of 53.03 nabbed at the Japan Swim this past April. Her time also registers as the Asian continental record as well.
With her head-turning time of 52.79, Ikee tops the world rankings, but also overtakes Aussie Olympian Emma McKeon as the 14th fastest performer ever in the event.
2018-2019 LCM WOMEN 100 FREE
MANUEL
52.04
| 2 | Cate CAMPBELL | AUS | 52.12 | 06/13 |
| 3 | Sarah SJOSTROM | SWE | 52.23 | 07/21 |
| 4 | Emma McKEON | AUS | 52.41 | 06/13 |
| 5 | Rikako IKEE | JPN | 52.79 | 11/17 |
Ikee already produced a quick 57.06 to top the podium in yesterday’s 100m fly and credits her time with Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom in Turkey as fuel for the remainder of this season.
The teen earned MVP of this Kosuke Kitajima Cup to add to her already prolific resume. In addition to winning 100m fly gold and 200m free silver at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships, Ikee became the first-ever female MVP of the Asian Games. At those Games in Jakarta, Ikee collected a massive 8 medals, including individual golds in her bread-and-butter 50m/100m free and 50m/100m fly events.
The teen will not be competing at the Short Course World Championships, but will instead be closing out her monumental year with the Tokyo Short Course Invitational next weekend.
Here are som additional finals results from Kitajima Cup, day 2:
Women’s 400 free: 1. Aya Takano 4:14.10 , 2. Mahiro Ishii 4:15.20 , 3. Yuuna Hamada 4:17.82
Men’s 400 free: 1. Keisuke Yoshida 3:48.51 , 2. Kosuke Hagino 3:50.31 , 3. Toaki Saka 3:55.24
Women’s 200 breast: 1. Reona Aoki 2:25.28 , 2. Shiori Asaba 2:26.31 , 3. Miho Takahashi 2:29.22
Men’s 200 breast: 1. Kazuki Kohinata 2:11.38 , 2. Yu Hanaguruma 2:12.43 , 3. Ikuma Osaki 2:12.62
Is she the best Japanese female swimmer ever?
And just in time for the Olympics in her home country.
The 200 free might be her best shot for gold. She’s got more speed than Ledecky, and beat her once in that event.
While I don’t have the historical knowledge to answer that question, my guess is not yet. I would think that she has the potential to be, but it’s hard to say that she is right now when she doesn’t have any Olympic medals and there have been plenty of Japanese female Olympic gold medalists.
There haven’t been that many female gold medalists from Japan. They have 2 golds in the 200 breaststroke – 1992 and 2016. They have one in the 800 free – Shibata in 2004, and one in the 100 fly – Aoki 1972.
You mentioned that the meet next weekend is called “Tokyo Short Course Invitational” but it’s actually “Tokyo Swimming Center Invitational”
The new generation has arrived for Tokyo 2020 – Ikee v Ruck a new swimming rivalry could form
Maybe we should wait to see if one of them can even win a World Champs LCM race first, before talking of a rivalry?
I’m getting nostalgic about those good old times (just 3 years ago) when 100 free was a battle between only three titans: Campbell sisters and Sarah Sjostrom. The times when their personal bests of 52.33, 52.52 and 52.67 were a scale to measure “monumental” success in this event. The times when every others were faraway in the dust. The times when best American sprinter unbelievable Missy Franklin was 53.34.
It’s all gone. Now the 52sec area is like a train station in Down Town in rush hours: so crowded that you don’t even notice faces of people you met there.
51 is where it’s at now
There’s 12 currently active girls who’s gone 52, by my count. Not an insane number but it is quite an explosion. It’s jot unlike the sudden increase in 59s in the 100 breast since 2012
13- Sarah, Cate, Bronte, Simone, Mallory, Femke, Pernille, Penny, Taylor, Charlotte, Ranomi, Ikee, Emma
Her 100 free PB had always been a little slow (in relative terms) compared to her 50 and 200 free and her 50 and 100 fly. This brings it more into line. She’ll be a real force in 2020; hope they don’t over schedule her.
Wow. What a star. I really expect either her or Ruck to become the first sub 53 sub 1.54 swimmers.
Japan look on target for a great few sporting years. Hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup (and their team looks really skillful suddenly), followed by the Olympics with a team packed full with talent