A domestic competition featuring top competitive swimmers was held, and the women's 200m individual medley was a close contest between three people aiming to qualify for the Paris Olympics, with Yui Ohashi, the gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in this event, and 21-year-old Nobu Matsumoto. Ayumu set a good time and won in a tie.

The ``Konami Open'' swimming competition was held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Koto Ward, Tokyo for two days starting from the 17th, and Japan's top swimmers competed as a place to prepare for the representative selection for the Paris Olympics in March.



Among them, in the women's 200m individual medley, Ohashi, the


gold medalist in this event at the Tokyo Olympics,


21-year-old Matsumoto, who is showing rapid growth,


and


17-year-old Narita, who won this event at last year's Japan Championships. The competition between the three seedlings attracted attention.



In the race, Matsumoto jumped out in the first butterfly and took the lead, but in the following backstroke, Ohashi took the lead with a powerful stroke.



After this, Narita, who is good at the second half, caught up and it became a close race between the three, with Ohashi and Matsumoto winning in a tie with a good time of 2 minutes 10.07 seconds.



Ohashi set the fastest time since the Tokyo Olympics, and Matsumoto also improved on his personal best set in January.



Narita, who came in 3rd place, also set a personal best time of 2 minutes 10.11 seconds, making it a high-level competition in which each player showed off their strengths in preparation for the national selection competition in March.



In addition, 23-year-old Yamato Fukasawa won the men's 100m breaststroke with a new tournament record time of 59.53 seconds, achieving his second title after winning the 200m breaststroke on the 17th.

Yui Ohashi “A battle where you don’t know what will happen until the end”

Yui Ohashi, who won the women's 200m individual medley in a tie, said, ``I was happy because it was the fastest time since the Tokyo Olympics, but I was aiming for a time of 2 minutes and 9 seconds, so that was a shame.'' I did.



Regarding the close race between the three, he said, ``I think it's important to keep in mind that only two of us can go to the Olympics, so we have to try our best to get in.It's a battle where we don't know how it will turn out until the very end, so there's some pressure, but we're having fun. "I want to improve my condition as much as possible in a month," he said, expressing his enthusiasm for the national team selection meeting.

Nobuho Matsumoto: “I want to practice with a competitive mindset in mind.”

Nobuho Matsumoto, who beat her personal best and tied for victory in the women's 200m individual medley, said, ``My goal was to run my personal best, so I was very happy.I think I was able to show that I am steadily improving.'' There were many situations where I was passed in the last 10 meters, so I'm slowly improving on that.''



She added, ``Even during practice, she is conscious of the fact that she is competing with Ohashi and Narita. Her top priority is winning the right to represent her at the Paris Olympics, and she practices with a competitive mindset in mind.'' I want to do it," he said.

Seo Narita “I want to do my best with a stronger feeling than anyone else”

Naoto Narita, who finished third in the women's 200m individual medley despite setting a personal best, said, ``I'm happy to have broken my best, but I'm also disappointed that I lost in the competition, so it's a little complicated.'' Before the national selection meeting I was able to set my personal best, which made me feel a lot better, and I'm glad that I was able to move in a positive direction."



In addition, she said in preparation for the national team selection meeting, ``I think that in the end, the players with the strongest will will be able to win the right to represent the national team.I want to work harder and do my best with a stronger will than anyone else.''