Rikako Ikee, a swimmer, participated in the women's 100-meter butterfly for the first time after returning to the competition at a competition held in Tokyo, marking 1 minute 0.06 in the qualifying, and advanced to the final in the afternoon in 2nd place overall. I did.
Last year, Ikee, who returned from leukemia, participated in the "Tokyo Open" that started on the 20th at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Koto Ward, Tokyo.
After returning to the race in August last year, Ikee has participated in four tournaments and focused on freestyle swimming, but this tournament entered the butterfly for the first time, and in the qualifying on the morning of the 20th, he became a women's 100-meter butterfly. I participated.
This event was the race since January, just before the announcement of the illness, but Ikee showed a relaxed swim from the first half and escaped, and in the second half he did not give up the top until the end with a time of 1 minute 0.06. I finished in 1st place.
Ikee advanced to the final in the afternoon in 2nd place overall, and broke the standard participation record of 1'0.29 required to participate in the Japan Championships in April, which is the representative selection for the Tokyo Olympics.
The 100-meter butterfly is one of Ikee's strongest events, and even now, when he marked it three years ago, the Japanese record of 56.08 was the fastest time in the world that year.