21-year-old Ai Ishihara, making her first appearance at the Para Swimming World Championships qualifying round, marked a time of 2:15.00 in the women's 200m individual medley visually impaired class, more than six seconds faster than the world record. Did.
In Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the World Championships of Para Swimming to be held in England from July this year and the representative selection meeting for the Asian Para Games were held for two days until the 5th.
Among them, the women's 200-meter individual medley visually impaired class was contested by competitive swimmer Ishihara, a 21-year-old third-year student at Kanagawa University.
Ishihara was active in competitions for able-bodied athletes, winning a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in his third year of high school. I developed symptoms that made it difficult to swim, and this was my first time participating in a para swimming competition.
Ishihara jumped out with a big stroke from the first butterfly, and in the latter half of the breaststroke, she overwhelmed the other swimmers with a powerful stroke, and set a time of 2:15.00, 6.44 seconds faster than the world record for the visually impaired class. Marked.
Also, in the men's 100m freestyle and movement impairment class, Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist and 36-year-old veteran Takayuki Suzuki competed in this event.
Aiming for a gold medal at the World Championships and the Paris Paralympics, Suzuki has continued training such as swimming.
Ai Ishihara "I want to exceed my personal best"
Ai Ishihara said after the race, "I wasn't as nervous as yesterday, but I think I was pretty stiff." I can't do it, so I want to practice as an issue."
Regarding the realization that he was faster than the world record, he said, "I have never participated in a para world competition, so I honestly don't know that I was 6 seconds faster than the world record, but I have to beat my own record. So, I think it will be a battle with myself in that regard. Regardless of whether I have a disability or not, I just want to surpass my personal best.”
After completing her first para-swimming competition, she said, "At first, I didn't know anyone, and I didn't know my right or left, so I was really worried, but many people called out to me and said, 'Wait. I was very happy that he said, "I'm glad I chose this option," he said with a smile.
Ishihara plans to participate in the Japan Swimming Championships, which also serves as a representative selection for the World Swimming Championships, and said, "I want to make it a good race where I can definitely win the right to represent in the event I'm aiming for and give back to my parents and coaches. ”, and expressed his desire to participate in the world championships held in his hometown Fukuoka in July.
Ai Ishihara “Aiming for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics”
Ai Ishihara is 21 years old from Fukuoka Prefecture.
She is a third-year student at Kanagawa University, a competitive swimmer.
She started showing symptoms to Ishihara in autumn two years ago, when she was in her second year of college.
She had a narrower field of vision, and her eyesight was declining, making it difficult to adjust the light.
She started swimming when she was four years old.
She has been practicing since the third grade at the swimming school attended by Seito Sakai, who won the silver medal in the men's 200m butterfly at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
At the World Junior Championships, which she competed in when she was in her third year of high school, she won bronze medals in both the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley.
However, after the symptoms appeared, she could not see the course rope, her sense of distance became dull, and she could not turn and touch well. There was also.
After thinking about it, she said, "She still likes swimming," and she said, "I want to stick to winning and move towards her goal."
And Ishihara, who decided to continue her competition, saying, "I still want to practice together" with her college friends.
Her favorite events are the 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley.
With a height of 1m 57cm, she is small for a competitive swimmer, but her strength lies in her flexibility and her ability to take advantage of the springs of her body to make big swims.
From now on, she is aiming to participate in two world championships, one for able-bodied and one for Paralympics. Aim for the Paralympics.
Takayuki Suzuki "Time almost as expected"
Takayuki Suzuki looked back after the race, saying, "Following yesterday's 50m freestyle, the 100m was a little short of my target time, but it was almost as expected."
Also, for the World Championships to be held in England from July, "Last year's World Championships were in the lower half of 1 minute 23 seconds, so I think it would be nice to cut the 3 seconds range and put it in the 2 seconds range. ' said his aspiration.
Furthermore, considering age and other factors, he revealed that he would narrow down to three events, the 50-meter freestyle and breaststroke, and the 100-meter freestyle, for the Paris Paralympics, saying, "I will do all three events evenly, and when the competition gets closer, I will train by focusing on the event that has the highest chance of winning a gold medal."