Tomomi Ishiura, who participated in the Paralympic Games for the first time in the Tokyo Paralympic Games 50m Freestyle Men's Freestyle Class, was 8th.
Ishiura's eyesight gradually deteriorated due to congenital glaucoma, and now he is in the most severely visually impaired class with only a slight light in both eyes.
33-year-old Ishiura made his first appearance in the Paralympics in his fourth challenge and advanced to the final in fifth place overall in the qualifying held in the morning.
In the final, he jumped vigorously at the start and smashed into the medal battle until the middle stage, but in the second half he turned left and right and slowed down, finishing 8th with a time of 31.78 seconds.
The gold medal is China's Ma Ka, who set a new world record of 29.46, the silver medal is China's Li Guizhi, and the bronze medal is Cyprus' Karolina Pelendritu. It was a high-level race that marked the time.
Ishiura "I still lack the ability I want to connect next"
Ishiura recalled, "At the time of the up before the final, I was wondering if I could take the plunge because the movement was better than in the morning, but in the second half the speed slowed down and I think I was a little tired."
After finishing the first event at the Paralympic Games, he said, "I was aiming for a gold medal, but I still think I'm still lacking in ability, so I'd like to connect to the next one."
The 4th challenge of the dream big stage overcoming surgery
Ishiura continued to take on the challenge no matter how many times he was bounced off, and showed his best swim on the Paralympic stage where he stood for the first time at the age of 33.
Ishiura started swimming at the age of 2 at the recommendation of a doctor because he was asthmatic, and started swimming in earnest at the age of 10.
As my eyesight gradually declined due to congenital glaucoma, I became absorbed in saying, "I can forget my disability while swimming," and since I was a high school student, I have been practicing with the goal of participating in the Paralympic Games, the highest stage. I have come.
With a strong kick, I was strengthening myself before I entered the world championships, but I was repelled by the Paralympic Games just one step away.
I missed the representative in the selection meeting for three consecutive tournaments from the Beijing tournament, and especially at the previous Rio de Janeiro tournament, I did not reach the dispatch standard record of only 0.38 seconds, and I cried.
I really wanted to participate in the Tokyo tournament, and in 2017 I changed jobs to secure more practice time.
And make a big decision for the adult. He underwent surgery on his right eye to reduce intraocular pressure.
Until then, Ishiura had been stopped by a doctor from kicking the diving platform as much as he could because the intraocular pressure was high due to glaucoma and the eyeballs were strained.
In addition, the side effects of the drug caused blood flow to deteriorate, making it easier for fatigue to accumulate, and I had a major handicap in terms of competition.
Depending on the outcome of the surgery, I was at risk of losing even the slightest light I could feel at the moment, but I decided myself, "I want to face the competition at the risk of my life."
The operation was successful.
In addition to being able to take the plunge into the start practice, my anxiety about stamina has been resolved and I am now able to withstand rigorous practice, and I have achieved great growth.
The world ranking of this event has risen to 4th place, and at the representative selection meeting in May, we broke the dispatch standard record and finally got a ticket to the big stage.
The starting point for the Paralympics, which I arrived at with "the fourth honesty" with the determination that "I've spent my life".
In the qualifying, he took the speed from the strengthened dive and passed in 5th place overall, and even in the final, he showed a hearty swim that bite into the upper ranks until the middle stage.
I didn't reach the medal, but I never gave up even though I was bounced off the wall many times, and the figure that I continued to challenge over my life never fades.