The swimming competition of the National Sports Festival and the National Sports Festival began in Utsunomiya City on the 17th, and Naoki Mizunuma, a local representative of Tochigi Prefecture, who won the silver medal at the World Championships in June this year in the adult men's 100-meter butterfly, won the championship.
The national polity, which will be held for the first time in three years due to the influence of the new coronavirus, will be held as a ``pre-session competition'' from the 10th of this month, and the swimming race will be held on the 17th, before the opening on the 1st of next month. started in Utsunomiya City.
Among them, Mizunuma, who is a silver medalist at the world championships and represents Tochigi Prefecture, participated in the final of the adult men's 100m butterfly.
It was the first time for Mizunuma to participate in the 100m butterfly race since the World Championships, and he was confused by the change in sensation during the qualifying. He showed a strong swim and caught up at once and won the national polity for the first time in 51 seconds 62.
In addition, Daiya Seto, who won the bronze medal in this event at the World Championships this year, participated in the final of the adult men's 200-meter individual medley.
Seto, who aims to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics the year after next, showed an aggressive swim in the first half of the final race, entering a time faster than the final of the world championships, but the breaststroke that the feeling of kicking the water was not good. I lost my time at the World Championships and won the championship with a time of 1:56.27, 0.05 seconds slower than the World Championship.
Naoki Mizunuma "It's a local event, so support is my strength"
Naoki Mizunuma, who won the adult men's 100-meter butterfly, commented on his victory at a local competition, saying, "It was my first experience to win a national championship, so it feels really fresh. I couldn't swim like that, so I challenged the final with a clear ideal swim.It was a close match, but because it was held locally, I was able to turn the cheering into my own strength and win the final. I think so," he said with a smile.
After winning the silver medal at the World Championships, he said about his next goal, "I don't think we should be satisfied with the result of winning the silver medal. I believe that continuing to win medals is our true strength. I want to go win the world championship that will be held in."
200m individual medley winner Daiya Seto "I'm sorry I didn't reach the time"
Daiya Seto, who won the adult men's 200m individual medley, said about the final race, "I felt more energetic after the race than when I came in third at the world championships. There was something that bothered me, so I became a passive swimmer.It was a race that I was aiming to be able to get in the 55-second range, so it's a pity that I couldn't keep up with the time." I made it
As for the future, he said, “Next year’s World Championships in Fukuoka will be a prelude to the Paris Olympics, so I want to prepare myself so that I can have a good race with my rivals in Fukuoka. I think I can do it,” he said enthusiastically.