Japan, which ranked 4th in both the Tokyo Olympics and Artistic Swimming, did not reach the medals for the second consecutive tournament.

This tournament ended without medals for the first time in the 10th tournament for director Masayo Imura, a famous general who has been bringing medals to his students for nearly 40 years.

Behind this were the "tides of the world" and the "corona sword."

The world trend is "upsizing"

2018, two years after the Rio de Janeiro Games, where Japan, led by Imura, won the bronze medal.

The name of the competition has changed from synchronized swimming to artistic swimming, which means "artistic".



As Japanese officials explored the implications of changing the name of the competition, a new tide emerged clearly at the adult world championships.



The height of the foot technique that emerges from the surface of the water.

The strength to swim in the pool and raise the spray.

Rather than the skills and synchronism that Japan has been good at so far, the performance of tall athletes with their strength in the foreground increased their scores.

Ukraine, which has athletes of about 1 meter and 80 centimeters as its representative, ranked third in all the events held at the Olympic Games, ahead of Japan, and was ranked "third" after Russia and China.



In order to respond to new trends, Japan has also adopted a policy of selecting tall players with an emphasis on even rough cutting, and strengthening them over time.



Even so, the average height of Japan in this tournament was about 1 meter 68 cm, which was only 1 cm higher than the previous tournament, which was a difference of nearly 7 cm from Ukraine.

Even at the Olympic Games, Ukraine was screaming because of the height and speed of the footwork and the strength of the performance.



During the tournament, Director Imura deepened his worries, saying, "In order to win medals from now on, it is inevitable that the size and power will be inevitable. This has also come, but it is quite difficult for the Japanese figure."

Countermeasures for unexploded ordnance due to corona damage

Another reason Japan missed the medal is the "corona wreck".


In fact, Director Imura prepared a strategy to supplement the handicap of the figure, assuming that he could not catch up with the increase in size of overseas players.



In the technical routine of the team with the theme of "karate", the players were actually trained to learn the shape of karate in order to impress the judges with their strength.

The plan was to show off his performance with sharp movements even with a small body at many international competitions, overturning the judge's evaluation of 4th place in the world championship.


It has been pointed out that in scoring competition artistic swimming, mistakes are less noticeable in underwater performance, and past achievements affect the judges' scoring, so it was essential to have achievements by the Olympics.

However, due to the influence of Corona, the number of international tournaments in which Japan participated since the World Championships was only once in April, which was smaller than in Europe where several tournaments were held.


Director Imura couldn't fully show the performance that he was "surprisingly good" to the judges around the world, and he couldn't overturn his evaluation before the tournament.



Furthermore, in the free routine of the team with the theme of "festival", it was a strategy to appeal the high score with the loud cheers of the venue by incorporating the shouts and music of the festival into the music in consideration of the local holding, but this was also unexploded. It ended in misfire.



Director Imura


"I thought that if I performed well, I would be evaluated, but I didn't think it would be affected so much. Corona was tough for me."

The revival of Japan ...

Japan is in an unprecedented headwind.



Director Imura, who saw the student's performance and realized that he had missed the medal, said in the interview area, "I am thinking of making this the last Olympics. Even if I strengthen it in Japan, it will not be evaluated. I want to tell the next coach that it is necessary to go out and sell my face. "

Earlier, Director Imura talked about the meaning of winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.



"If I lost if, coach following the rest is" in Imura teacher would think it impossible for me "because it was not good. So it must have to win,"



continued to stand in the front line since the days of "Synchro" The words of the 70-year-old master are now weighing heavily on Japan.