Swimming

World Champion Tomoru Honda Misses 400 IM Final On Day Two Of Japanese Olympic Trials

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By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam

2024 JAPANESE OLYMPIC TRIALS

The second of eight preliminary sessions at the 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials has officially wrapped up. Heats of the men’s 200 freestyle, men’s 400 IM, women’s 100 breaststroke, men’s 100 backstroke, women’s 200 freestyle, and men’s 50 butterfly were all on the schedule, with finals action coming in just a few hours time.

High schooler Tatsuya Murasa, who recently popped a best time of 1:47.49 at the age of 16, led the men’s 200 free heats. He touched the wall a few tenths off his best in 1:47.76, but split the race quite evenly. He opened the first 100 in 53.14 before closing in 55.62, highlighted by a scorching 26.89 final 50 split.

Murasa’s personal best would rank him the United States’ #2 15-16-year-old in history, just behind Maximus Williamson‘s 1:47.29 from last year.

27-year-old veteran Katsuhiro Matsumoto (1:48.49) was the closest competitor to Murasa this morning. Matsumoto owns the Japanese national record in the event with his 1:44.65 from the 2021 Japanese Championships. He earned a silver medal in this event at the 2019 World Championships, where he finished with a time of 1:45.22.

Murasa and Matsumoto will be the class of the field in tonight’s semifinals, and will have to target the 1:45.84 qualification standard during Tuesday’s final, assuming they both safely qualify later today.

Daiya Seto was the fastest 400IMer in prelims, hitting the wall in 4:13.03 to clear the field by over a full second. The 13-time World Champion recently snagged bronze at February’s World Championships, and also claimed the same medal color at the 2023 Fukuoka Worlds.

Tomoru Honda, who won the 2024 200 butterfly world title, finished 10th this morning. Missing the final was a shock, as he owns a best time of 4:09.98 from December. Honda battled a sprained ankle at February’s World Championship meet, before pulling out of the meet entirely after his gold medal-winning 200 fly.

The women’s 100 breast saw two competitors in the 1:06-realm, where Satomi Suzuki (1:06.21) outpaced Asian record holder Reona Aoki (1:06.76). Suzuki has showcased a career resurgence over the past year, highlighted by 7th (50 breast) and 8th (100 breast) finishes at the 2023 World Championships. Suzuki went on to claim double silver in those same breast distances at September’s Asian Games.

Suzuki was a two-time medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, where she claimed bronze in the 100 breast (1:06.46) before upgrading to silver in the 200m (2:20.92) distance. Her time this morning was notably faster than she went to win the Olympic bronze medal over a decade ago, and just 0.01 outside her best time from 2023.

Aoki’s morning effort of 1:06.76 is well off her 1:05.19 best time, but it was a great morning swim with semifinals (and presumably finals) still to come. She’s right on track to challenge the Japanese Swimming Federation’s qualification time of 1:06.47, which Suzuki undercut during prelims.

Yusuke Sato was the only man to break 54 seconds in the men’s 100 back heats, checking-in at 53.96. Sato wrangled up bronze during Sunday’s 50 back final and is in the hunt to contend for his second podium appearance.

Riku Matsuyama (54.21) and Ryosuke Irie (54.22) are both in close pursuit heading into Monday’s semifinals, but will have to drop significantly to reach the 53.21 qualification time. Matsuyama recently posted a best time of 53.84, eclipsing Japan’s greatest-ever backstroker Ryosuke Irie at the recent Kosuke Kitajima Cup. 34-year-old Irie holds the national record in both the 100 (52.21) and 200 (1:52.54) backstrokes, markers he threw down back in 2009.

Despite no women breaking 2:00 in the 200 free this morning, Nagisa Ikemoto‘s 2:00.02 clocking was fastest enough for top seed status. Rio Shirai (2:00.17) and Miyu Namba (2:00.19) rounded out the top three qualifiers, with 1:56.55 being the qualifying target time for Tuesday night. Namba claimed individual glory on Sunday, where she snagged 400 free gold in 4:06.10, just outside the 4:05.34 qualifying standard. Shirai has the quickest best time of those three swimmers, as she logged 1:56.82 back in 2019.

Eight swimmers broke 24 seconds in the men’s 50 fly, with Kota Akabane leading the way with his 23.59 time. Top seeded Takeshi Kawamoto, who has been as swift as 23.13, opted to drop the event. Kawamoto owns a best time of 51.00 in the 100m distance, which is 0.43 under Japan’s qualifying time.

SwimSwam: World Champion Tomoru Honda Misses 400 IM Final On Day Two Of Japanese Olympic Trials

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