Naoki Mizunuma decided to advance to the semi-finals in 12th place overall in the qualifying for the men's 100-meter butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics.

Takeshi Kawamoto did not advance to the semi-finals in 20th place overall.

Mizunuma is 24 years old from Tochigi prefecture.

While many players are based in Tokyo, where the training environment is in place, after going on to university, "I want to prove that I can compete with the world even in rural areas," I have continued to strengthen in Niigata Prefecture.


In the men's 100-meter butterfly on the 29th, he participated in 6 qualifying groups, showed an active swim from the first half, and finished in 4th place in this group.

With a time of 51.57 seconds, he finished 12th overall and decided to advance to the semi-finals.



On the other hand, Kawamoto, who participated in the 7th qualifying group, is 26 years old from Aichi prefecture.

Originally a backstroke player, he focused on butterfly strokes from college, and has a speed that makes use of dolphin kicks and the power of the upper body.


In the race on the 29th, he returned in 2nd place in the first half, but did not grow in the second half and finished in 51.93 seconds, missing the semi-final advance in 20th place overall.



The men's 100-meter butterfly will have its semi-finals starting at 10:30 am on the 30th.

Mizunuma "Preparing for the semi-finals"

Immediately after the race, Mizunuma said, "I wanted to go with the momentum that I could ideally give my best, but I don't think I've got the time I expected, and I think it's out of my sense. From here, it's time for the semi-finals. Is short, and I think the key is how quickly you can recover, so I want to prepare. "

Kawamoto "I'm sorry I didn't get the time I wanted"

After the race, Kawamoto said, "I'm disappointed that I didn't get the time I expected. I was able to practice with a lot of confidence, so if my senses and time are so far apart, what's calm? I can't analyze if it was bad, "he said with regret.