The second day of the Japan Open, in which the representatives of the Tokyo Olympics are participating, was held on the second day, and Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who aims to win the gold medal in the men's 200m freestyle, won the championship at 1: 46.17. did.
The Japan Open is the last major competition in swimming before the Tokyo Olympics, and is held in Narashino City, Chiba Prefecture from the 3rd to the 4th, and 33 athletes who have been nominated as Olympic representatives have entered.
On the 4th of the 2nd day of the tournament, the finals of the 7th men's and women's events were held, and in the men's 200m freestyle, the state of Matsumoto who aimed to win the gold medal in this event attracted attention.
Matsumoto, who won the 100-meter freestyle on the 3rd with a time approaching his personal best, woke up at 5am, 3 hours earlier than usual, in anticipation of the Olympics, where the final will be held in the morning on the 4th. It was.
In the qualifying, Matsumoto showed an aggressive race and marked 1 minute 45 seconds 48, which was nearly 3 seconds away from the 2nd place player.
In the final held in the afternoon, he took the lead from the beginning and won the championship, but he could not widen the lead in the second half and dropped the time from the qualifying to 1: 46.17.
In addition, Ryosuke Irie, who is the captain of the Japanese national team for swimming in the men's 100-meter backstroke, won the championship at 53:00.
Yui Ohashi won the women's 400-meter individual medley at 4: 35.92.
Rikako Ikee, who has entered the 4th event of this tournament, participated in the non-specialized 50-meter breaststroke and finished 39th in the qualifying.
Katsuhiro Matsumoto "I think it makes sense to prepare for the actual performance"
Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who won the men's 200-meter freestyle, said about the preparations for the actual performance, "I wanted to go to the Olympics after knowing the routine that I could move in the morning, so if I do what I did today, my body will move firmly. I think the plan I made today is meaningful. "
Regarding the race of the final, which lost time from the qualifying, "I think that the final is normal because I made it a challenge to make sure that the qualifying is solid. I was thinking about how much time I could set while I was tired. I want to be as strong as possible in all aspects of endurance and speed toward the goal. "