At the Tokyo Swimming Championships held in Koto-ku, Tokyo, former world record holder Ippei Watanabe won the men's 200-meter breaststroke with a good time.

The Japan swimmers who will compete in the World Championships in Fukuoka City in July participated in the Tokyo Metropolitan Championships held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Koto Ward as part of their training.

On the final day, the 7th, Watanabe, a former world record holder, was selected to represent Japan for the first time in four years since 4 in the final of the men's 200-meter breaststroke.

Watanabe, who traveled to Europe for more than two weeks last month, jumped out from the start and finished the first half at the top, and in the second half, he said "I felt good" and pulled away from the other competitors to win the championship with a good time of 2019 minutes 4.2 seconds.

Watanabe said, "The 200-meter breaststroke was my last race before the World Championships, so it was good that I finished with a good time. I want to prove my strength and win the gold medal."

In the final of the women's 200-meter individual medley, Yui Ohashi, who won the gold medal in this event at the Tokyo Olympics, participated.

Although Ohashi was unable to practice enough during the last training camp due to poor health, he swam strongly in the first half to take the lead, and then ran away with a time of 2:11.21 to win the championship over Nae Narita, a high school sophomore who had lost at the Japan Championships in April.

Ohashi said, "There are many times when it is difficult for me to swim well in races, but today I was able to do the race I wanted, and I want to use this as a confidence to improve my swimming with the number one goal of being in the final of the World Championships."