Competitive swimmer Rikako Ikee announced her new affiliation after graduating from university, saying, "I want to grow as a person and become a world-class athlete."

A fourth-year student at Nihon University, Ikee was diagnosed with leukemia before entering school and spent about 10 months in the hospital battling the disease. I will graduate this spring.



Ikee announced in Tokyo on the 6th that he will sign a partnership agreement with the major tire manufacturer "Yokohama Rubber" from next month and will be affiliated with it.



Ikee, who appeared at the venue wearing a suit that he chose for the first time himself, was assigned to the public relations office, and while learning the etiquette from the training instructor, he challenged his first business card exchange. .



Ikee explained why he chose his club, saying, "It will be a new challenge for me, but we share the same desire to aim for the top of the world."



After that, as a new member of society, he said, "I think that swimming will be my main activity, but I want to do my best to grow as a person. I want to be an athlete who can play an active role in the world."



Next month, he plans to participate in the Japan Championships, which will also serve as a representative selection for the World Championships in July this year. I'm excited and looking forward to the rising state," he was enthusiastic.

turbulent college life

Rikako Ikee, who has decided on a new affiliation.



However, her college life was an eventful four years.



At the age of 16, when she was a freshman in high school, she was 16 years old and placed 5th in the women's 100m butterfly at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. selected as a player.



Her Japanese record is 11 in her individual events, combined with her short course record in the 25-meter pool, and she is noted as Japan's ace.



However, in February 2019, when she was about to enter Nihon University, a swimming powerhouse, she complained of poor physical condition during a training camp in Australia, and after returning to Japan, she was diagnosed with leukemia.



Ikee was forced to stay in the hospital for her treatment.



One month after hospitalization, he posted on his social media, "It's tens, hundreds, thousands of times more difficult than I thought. I haven't eaten for more than three days. But I don't want to lose." And it made me feel the pain of fighting against the disease.



She made her first public appearance since she announced her illness at the Japan Student Championships in September that year, cheering on her college teammates in the arena.



After about 10 months of her hospital stay, she was discharged in December.



At that time, she set a goal of "participating in the Paris Olympics and winning a medal" and resumed training with the aim of her return to competition.



Due to the influence of her new coronavirus, she resumed her full-scale practice in the pool around June of her second year of college.



She has undergone regular examinations at the hospital and has been training hard, and on August 29, 2020, she will participate in the race for the first time in about 1 year and 7 months.



She made her long-awaited debut at the Japan Student Championships in October of the same year, where she finished fourth in the 50m freestyle final with a time of 25.62 seconds.



After that, I will not participate in races and concentrate on building my body.



The Japanese championship which I reached when I became a third year university student.



Ikee won the women's 100-meter butterfly at this tournament, which will be the selection for the Tokyo Olympics, and seized the seat of the representative of the medley relay.



She participated in three relay events at this tournament, including the women's 400m medley relay, which helped her team advance to the finals.



Last April, she won three events at the Japan Championships, the last of her university life.



Ikee, who has been in a bad condition since last autumn, won the women's 100m freestyle at the domestic competition last month and showed signs of recovery.



She is aiming to compete in the Paris Olympics next year, and will first face the Japan Championship next month at her new club.