It has been about a year since para-competitive swimmer Keiichi Kimura has been working on improving his form in his favorite event, the butterfly.

The stage to test the results was the Paris Paralympic representative selection meeting, which was held until the 10th.



After the race that secured him a spot on the national team, Kimura said that he was only halfway through, saying, ``The level of perfection is still low,'' and expressed his strength, ``I want to create a swimming style that can once again compete on the world stage before the Paris Games.''

``I have never seen'' a swimming model

``I want to challenge myself to see how far I can improve my record.'' Last year, Kimura asked Natsumi Hoshi, a friend of 10 years who won bronze medals at two consecutive Olympic Games, to teach her, and decided to review her swimming from scratch.



Kimura, who is completely blind and has no memory of seeing anything with his eyes since he was 2 years old, has never seen a swimming model and has been learning how to swim on his own.



Therefore, Mr. Hoshi first tried to teach Kimura how to use his body correctly by holding his hand in the pool, and by changing the words to words that were easier to understand for Kimura, who had difficulty understanding things visually, through trial and error. I'm here.

Fixed elbow bend and kick timing

The two focused on improving their form on how to use their arms.



Hoshi says that Kimura's previous swimming style involved waving the water with his arms straight, which resulted in his palms facing downwards in the water, making it difficult for him to grip the water properly.



For this reason, I made sure to bend my elbow and use my entire arm.



Furthermore, the timing of the kick was modified.



Compared to a healthy athlete, the timing of the kick was earlier, and the upper body was raised, making it more susceptible to water resistance.



So, Mr. Hoshi went underwater and instilled the right timing into his body.

3 seconds short of the world record

About a year has passed since then.



On the day before the race to qualify for the Paris Paralympics, Kimura said, ``If the swimming I'm aiming for is 100%, it's still only about 8%,'' but he was enthusiastic, ``I want to swim well and break the record.''



On the day of the event (the 10th), Kimura completed the first half of the men's 100m butterfly race with a good time of 28.93 seconds, saying, ``I was able to swim as well as I have been doing in practice.''



However, in the second half he was unable to maintain his pace and finished in a time of 1:03.03.



Although he broke his dispatch record and earned a ticket to Paris, his time was about 2 seconds faster than his personal best of 1 minute 1.17 seconds set four years ago.



This was about 3 seconds short of the world record of 1:00.56 set by a Ukrainian athlete last year.

Tightening facial expressions: ``Perfection is still low.''

After the race, Kimura, guided by Mr. Hoshi, appeared in the interview area where reporters were waiting. He looked relieved, saying, ``I'm glad we were able to finish the race with confidence,'' but his expression quickly tightened, and he said, ``I'm glad I finished the race with confidence.'' In the first half, I think I was able to swim as well as I have been until now, but the level of perfection is still low.I was able to use my hands, but I wasn't able to use my legs at the right time, so the second half was a little difficult.''



Kimura then emphasized, ``I don't think my technical ability in the butterfly has reached its level yet, so I want to thoroughly hone it and create a swim that can compete on the world stage again before the Paris Olympics.''



With six months left until the opening of the Paris Paralympic Games, the two of us will work together to pursue our ideal swimming style.