Multiple High School Records Fall At Japanese Junior Olympic Cup

46th NATIONAL JOC SPRING SWIMMING TOURNAMENT (JPN)

• Wednesday, March 27th – Saturday, March 30th
• Tokyo Aquatics Center
• SCM (25m)
• Results

On the heels of the Japanese Olympic Trials, the 46th National Junior Olympic Cup Spring Swimming Tournament wrapped up at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.

Junior high schoolers and senior high schoolers took to the pool to demonstrate rising talent within the nation hoping to cultivate talent to replace the aging elite.

We reported how 34-year-old Ryosuke Irie missed his 5th Olympic Games squad and some speculate his retirement announcement is imminent. National record holder Takeshi Kawamoto also missed making the Paris squad and retired.

However, the results from this JOC were positive, with several records biting the dust to pave the way for the next generation.

Key Results

• Cal commit Yamato Okadome made some noise in the men’s 100m breaststroke event. 18-year-old Okadome clocked a time of 57.55 to take the race, establishing a new Japanese High School Record in the process. His result sliced .14 off of his own prior personal best of 57.69. He’s now the 13th-best Japanese performer in history.
• The women’s 100m breast saw Kotomi Kato stop the clock in 1:04.32 to register a new High School Record. She erased Kanako Watanabe‘s mark of 1:05.04. Kato now checks in as the 4th-swiftest Japanese performer of all time in this event.
  • Top 5 Japanese Women’s SCM 100 Breaststroke Performers
    • Reona Aoki – 1:04.01, 2022
    • Miho Teramura – 1:04.05, 2016
    • Satomi Suzuki – 1:04.11, 2012
    • Shintomi Kato – 1:04.32, 2024
    • Mai Fukasawa – 1:04.45, 2022
• Kato also nailed a new High School Record in the 50m breast, earning gold in 30.21.
• Shon Mitsunaga, a high school freshman, earned a new High School national record as the lead-off on his squad’s 4x100m free relay. Mitsunaga hit 47.57 to shave .38 off the previous NR.
• In the boys’ 15-16 200m breaststroke final, Shin Ohashi nailed a time of 2:05.28 for the victory. That was well over half a second ahead of the former Junior High School record of 2:06.16.
• Yusuke Sato logged an effort of 23.48 to take the boys’ 50m back final for a new Japanese High School Record.
• Kazusa Kuroda topped the men’s 100m free podium, hitting a time of 48.33. That easily overtook the previous Japanese High School Record of 48.64. Runner-up Iku Matsuyama was also under that barrier, snagging silver in 48.35.
• Kuroda also reaped the top prize in the men’s 200m free, posting an effort of 1:45.16 to beat the field by over 2 seconds. He logged another new Japanese High School Record with his performance.
• The men’s 400m free saw Kazushi Imafuku get to the wall first, turning in a time of 3:44.45 to beat the field by nearly 2 seconds. That’s a new meet record by over a second.
• Yusuke Sato produced a new High School Record of 23.48 in the men’s 50m back, hitting the sole sub-24-second result of the pack.