Just 2 weeks after producing the 2nd best 100m freestyle time of his career, Japanese sprinter Katsumi Nakamura fired off a new national record in the splash n’ dash while competing in Yamaguchi City tonight.
Racing in a sole swimmer time trial at the 2018 Kirara Cup today, 23-year-old Nakamura registered a wicked-fast 50m freestyle time of 21.87 to slide under the previous Japanese national record by just .01. The previous record of 21.88 was held by fellow sprinter and Olympic teammate Shinri Shioura since 2014.
This new mark is added to Nakamura’s 47.99 100m freestyle NR registered at the Olympic Games, which signified the first time a Japanese swimmer had ever ventured under the 48-second barrier. At the Kosuke Kitajima Cup at the end of last month, the Olympian came within .14 of that mark with a 48.13, a time that checked in as 8th fastest in the world this season.
As for his new 21.87 mark, Nakamura is now positioned as 2nd fastest in the world this season, only behind World Championships multi-medalist Ben Proud.
2017-2018 LCM MEN 50 FREE
PROUD
21.11
| 2 | Bruno FRATUS | BRA | 21.35 | 04/21 |
| 3 | Andrea VERGANI | ITA | 21.37 | 08/08 |
| 4 | Kristian GKOLOMEEV | GRE | 21.44 | 08/09 |
| 4 | Vladimir MOROZOV | RUS | 21.44 | 08/08 |
Take a look at how his sole swimmer race went down in Yamaguchi City, as well as appreciate the sprinter’s post-race excitement and lane line celebration as Nakamura makes swimming history.
https://twitter.com/masayafurukita/status/962596436276740096
MA went 21.75 three times. It really puts his sprinting in perspective.
He’s also 6’5. My guess is Nakamura isn’t. Height isn’t the only factor in fast swimming, but it certainly helps.
Everyone likes to debate whether USRPT is good or bad. Who knows. The real question should be I wonder if Andrew would be faster in a non USRPT type program with people to race against everyday?
Actually I think that idea gets brought up more than whether or not USRPT is good or bad. It’s seriously been driven into the ground by now.
New Asian record! One of the favourites to win this year Asian Games in this event.
It could be because of a delay between the audio and video, but it sure looks like he timed the start a little bit. Look at his initial movement after the beep, they look almost simultaneous
It seemed pretty legit to me, he seems to have a very good reaction time. Anything around 0.60 looks almost too fast on video
Probably because the speed of sound is much slower than speed of light – noticeable here since it was filmed from fairly far away
More likely to just be a quirk with the video/audio sync. Light is quite a bit faster than sound, sure, but at the distances we’re talking, the time delay is basically negligible.
Well, if the race was filmed at 80m away from block at starting end (possible) then it would take 0.23 seconds for sound to reach camera, making (for example) a 0.60 reaction look like a 0.37 reaction…
*approx 0.23 seconds…obviously depends on temperature and moisture in the air.
(Ah science! Love it…)
I can’t even think about LCM until after NCAAs. It’s just weird. It’s still cold out.
For us not-Americans is the other way round. I can’t appreciate NCAA times.
yeah, because yards is as pointless as it can be, it’s not used anywhere else on the world. it’s about how you can turn well, not about how you can swim well…I see too many foreigners going to NCAAs and “struggle” but when they compete against the same swimmers in a pool that actually matters they whoop their asses.
hardly…25 scm and 25 scy is not really a different animal. Great non-U.S. swimmers are well-represented at NCAAs and the Americans have eked out a few LC medals over the years.
I never said it’s pointless. Why would I say that? If so many people swim yards, it is not pointless by definition. It’s just that when it’s meters, I can always instantly tell if a given time is top-class or not; with yards, I have to check (or just rely on what’s being said here on SwimSwam). Perhaps I misused the word “appreciate”. I meant, I can’t evaluate yards times.
I never said it’s pointless. Why would I say that? If so many people swim yards, it is not pointless by definition. It’s just that when it’s meters, I can always instantly tell if a given time is top-class or not; with yards, I have to check (or just rely on what’s being said here on SwimSwam). Perhaps I misused the word “appreciate”. I meant, I can’t evaluate yards times.
Because of the time trial I will bring this up, it’s amazing that Popov went 21.64 in a Speedo in 2000. Even today that time would finish highly in a world class final. Imagine if he had a modern tech suit in a modern olympic pool.
Then 21.3
I would also mention the track start …
Ehh…no pressure, empty pool. Sham record
Can you go 21.88?
I was unaware that I wasn’t allowed to make a simple observation without being able to swim the 50 freestyle in 21.88 seconds.
Well now you know!
Until you can swimmer faster than that, please stop downplaying swimmers performances. He worked hard for that 21.88. You don’t need to be a world record holder to be a good swimmer. He is the fastest Japanese ever and one of the fastest swimmers. Don’t make it seem like your average Joe can go sub 22.
Still doesn’t change the fact that he swam in an empty pool. Being so defensive means you understand that point too.
Yes it was an empty pool but 21.88 LCM and a national record is still impressive. You seem very determined to downplay his achievement and are being very defensive about your own opinion which others are allowed to disagree with
This “empty pool” argument just tells me you’ve never competed or have no idea about how LCM swimming works… It makes no difference on a 50 free, ZERO!!
Even if you’re right about the low pressure, it’s not a sham record. He still swam a 50 LCM free completely legally in 21.88.
incredibly stupid comment. not a sham record.
I’d say that makes this time more impressive, tbh. With no one to race it can be hard to conjure up a sense of urgency.
And as for the “no waves” argument that gets brought up, I don’t think that’s valid in the 50 unless someone just has a legitimately awful start or there is some other big difference in position. Most elite 50 free heats involve swimmers being more or less the same speed, with tiny things like the timing of the finish or the quality of breakout being the deciding factor. By the time one person’s waves travel 2 meters laterally, over the lane lines, and into the line of travel of the next swimmer, that swimmer is… Read more »
I’m tired of people on this site hating on achievements of any swimmer who isn’t American. This is just another example. To say that a record is a sham because it’s a time trial is ridiculous.