On the 6th, the Japan Championships in Athletics, which will be the representative selection for the Tokyo Olympics, was held on the 4th day of the competition, and the 19-year-old Honda Akira won the men's 200-meter butterfly and decided on the representative.

Men's 200m Butterfly Honda / Seto unofficially decided

In the men's 200m butterfly final, Akira Honda set a new personal best and won the championship at 1:54:88.



Daiya Seto was in second place with a time of 1'55.20, both of which broke the standard dispatch record set by the Japan Swimming Federation and was nominated as the representative of the Tokyo Olympics for this event.

Seto has already been nominated as a representative in the second individual medley event, and this is the third nominated representative.



Teppei Morimoto was in 3rd place, and up to 5th place who swam in the final was a fierce battle that broke the standard dispatch record.

The winner, Honda, is a 19-year-old college student who is a butterfly and individual medley player.

The 200-meter butterfly, which focuses on it, has a strong kick and catch-up in the second half, and it is a growing stock that has steadily strengthened, such as winning the silver medal at the 2019 World Junior Championships and winning the Japan Championship in December last year for the first time. ..



In the final race, Honda said, "I couldn't swim well in the first half," but he was close to Seto until the middle of the race and entered the final 50 meters in 2nd place.

Then, I overtook Seto in the last spurt, which I was confident of as my strength, and finished in 1st place.



Honda was calm, saying, "I'm happy, but it's a natural result. I'm disappointed that I didn't reach the time I was aiming for."

When the press pointed out, "I thought I would be more pleased," he said, "The coach always tells me to keep calm," and at the end he smiled like a 19-year-old.



In addition, Seto, who decided to represent the third event of the Tokyo Olympics by himself in the men's 200-meter butterfly, said, "I think I'm lucky that I was selected as the representative at this time. I want to race for the Olympics. I went to the race with my thoughts, but I was sick at the last 50 meters, so I would like to strengthen it once more and win a medal at a better time in the summer. "



In order to make up for the delay in strengthening, Seto said that he could hardly practice spurting at the end of the butterfly stroke after swimming to improve his physical strength for the past month. It is positioned as a part of strengthening.



In the race on the 6th, he did not break the usual style of actively taking the lead from the first half, turned back in 2nd place in the first half, lined up with Honda who was catching up in the final stage, and allowed a reversal just before the finish, but Japan Showing the strength of the record holder, he broke the standard dispatch record and finished in 2nd place.

Women's 200m individual medley Teramura / Ohashi unofficially decided

Miho Teramura won the women's 200-meter individual medley final at 2: 09.55.

Second place was Yui Ohashi at 2: 09.67.



Both Teramura and Ohashi broke the standard dispatch record and were appointed as representatives of the Tokyo Olympics in this event.

Ohashi has already been appointed as the representative of the 400-meter individual medley, and this is the second appointed representative.



Miho Teramura is 26 years old from Chiba prefecture.

I specialized in breaststroke until junior high school, but due to my knee injury, I began to focus on individual medley.

He participated in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley and advanced to the semi-finals, and won the bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang.

Under the guidance of coach Yoji Suzuki, who raised Daichi Suzuki, a gold medalist at the Seoul Olympics, he won his first victory at the Japan Championships in December last year.



After the race, Teramura smiled, "I've been working hard just for this after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, so I'm relieved. When it comes to high-level battles, I thought I'd train and swim desperately."



As he overcame rigorous practice under coach Suzuki with Katsuhiro Matsumoto, a 200-meter freestyle Japanese record holder for boys, he said, "Matsumoto is a junior, but I was inspired to stand here. It might be the last race, so we talked to each other to make sure we didn't regret it. "

For the Tokyo Olympics, he was eager to win a medal, saying, "I don't think I can fight at this time, so I want to push harder and do my best to get a better time at the tournament and get on the podium."



Ohashi, who was the Japanese record holder for the women's 200-meter individual medley and became the second representative of the Tokyo Olympics, said about the race, "The up condition was very good, so I was too conscious of trying my best. There was a part that I was nervous about. There was also a part that I was nervous about, and I was late in the second half. "

On top of that, he said, "I saw in today's race that if I worked hard in the first half, I wouldn't have it in the second half. I want to prepare for my own race."

Women's 200m freestyle championship Igarashi relay with a job offer and facial expression ...

Chihiro Igarashi won the women's 200m freestyle final at 1:57:47.



Igarashi was unable to break the standard dispatch record for the individual event, but since he broke the standard record for the women's 800-meter relay, he was appointed as the representative for this event.

The remaining three people will be decided by the selection committee held on the last day of the tournament.



Igarashi is 25 years old from Kanagawa prefecture.

He specializes in freestyle swimming and has won the Japan Championships in the 3rd category of 50m, 200m and 400m, and has won the middle-distance 400m for 6 consecutive years since he was in the third year of high school.



At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where one person participated for the first time, he served as the first swimmer in the women's 800-meter relay, where one swims 200 meters, and contributed to the final.

Under coach Takayuki Umehara, who raised Daiya Seto, he has gained the ability to catch water through strength training and is strengthening his speed by updating his 100-meter personal best in February.



After the final race, Igarashi's facial expression was complicated.

The race allowed young Rio Shirai to take the lead, but he said, "I was able to calm down and race," without any hassle.


Then, in the last 50 meters, I raised the gear at a stretch and pulled out, and decided to be the Olympic representative for the second consecutive tournament.



After the race, he seemed relieved that he was able to win the championship, saying, "It was the first event I played," but I was the only one who broke through the women's 800-meter relay representative's unofficial decision conditions in the final. Therefore, he said, "I wanted to make an offer and go to the Olympics comfortably. I was thinking of making a savings. I'm disappointed."

Women's 1500m freestyle Moriyama won the championship

Yukimi Moriyama won the women's 1500m freestyle final at 16: 17.60, but failed to break the standard dispatch record set by the Japan Swimming Federation.


Moriyama said, "I've been practicing a race to cut 16 minutes, so I'm disappointed that the result wasn't even my own record, but I was able to leave the result of winning the Japan Championship and support it. I wish I could express my gratitude to the people who helped me. I haven't been able to put out what I've been practicing as a result, so I'll still do my best. "