Asaki Nishikawa, Mio Narita Grab 400 IM Titles at Japan Swim
Depth in the men’s 400-meter individual medley has been a leading storyline in Japan in recent months, and Sunday was the turn of Asaki Nishikawa to display his talent in the event. A 19-year-old, Nishikawa posted a time of 4:08.66 to prevail in the 400 IM at the Japan Swim in Tokyo. That performance was more than a second quicker than Raito Numata, who picked up second place in 4:10.29.
Nishikawa covered the opening butterfly leg in 56.20 and split 1:59.74 at the halfway point of the race, the only effort under two minutes. At the 300, Nishikawa was timed in 3:10.68, enough of a cushion to easily fend off Numata. Placing third was Riku Yamaguchi, who went 4:10.69. En route to his victory, Nishikawa was a second off his personal nest of 4:07.67, set last year.
In the women’s 400 medley, Mio Narita put together a dominant triumph, winning by more than five seconds. The silver medalist in the 400 IM at last year’s World Championships, Narita produced a time of 4:35.16, with second place going to Waka Kobori in 4:40.75. Earlier in the session, Kobori captured the 800 freestyle in 8:33.16.
After winning the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke earlier in the meet, veteran Satomi Suzuki completed her breaststroke sweep with a victory in the 50 distance. The 35-year-old Suzuki touched the wall in 30.39, which was nearly a second faster than runnerup Kotomi Kato, who checked in at 31.30. An event later, Kazushi Imafuku turned in his latest strong performance in a distance event, as he went 14:55.04 to win the 1500 freestyle.
Yoshitoku Narushima finished ahead of the field in the men’s 100 butterfly, as his time of 51.31 was quicker than the 51.63 of Tomonobu Gomi. They were followed by Katsuhiro Matsumoto and Naoki Mizunuma, who shared third place in 51.70.
In other action, Yume Jinno won the women’s 50 freestyle in 25.21 while Reo Miura was the lone athlete under the 25-second barrier in the men’s 50 backstroke, claiming victory in 24.96. Shunichi Nakao walked away with the title in the men’s 50 freestyle, as his outing of 22.12 edged the 22.15 of Ryusei Shigeto.
