Masami Uchikoshi and Aya Takano triumph in Women’s events in Japan Open 2011 – Swimming News
Masami Uchikoshi and Aya Takano displayed remarkable performances in the qualifying rounds on day one of the Japan Open 2011 Swimming Championships, as they occupied the fastest qualification spots in their respective events.
The session included the preliminary rounds of the Women’s 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 100m back-stroke and the 100m breast-stroke.
In the Women’s 200m butterfly, Uchikoshi occupied the top qualification spot into the finals, clocking a time of 2:11.27 minutes. The swimmer was only five seconds slower than the national record of 2:06.05 minutes. She was followed by Kei Hoshiba and Miyu
Ohtsuka, who touched the wall for the second and third fastest qualification spots, with timings of 2:11.77 and 2:12.49 minutes, respectively.
The second event of the session was the 200m freestyle, where Takano earned the fastest qualification spot and out-touched Risa Sekine by 0.42 seconds. The 16-year-old Takano touched home first in 2:01.19 minutes, to overcome her closest competitor Sekine’s
2:01.61 minutes effort. They were followed by Yuka Onoguchi, who touched the wall for third fastest qualification by posting a time of 2:01.75 minutes.
Next event was the 100m back-stroke, where the 26-year-old Aya Terakawa displayed a stunning performance by clocking an astounding time of 1:01.11 minutes. The Japanese swimmer was only 1.98 seconds behind the national record of 59.13 seconds. Terakawa was
0.11 seconds ahead of Eri Tabei, who emerged as the second fastest swimmer with a timing of 1:01.22 minutes. The 20-year-old Shiho Sakai followed them into the finals at the third spot, by touching the wall in 1:01.67 minutes.
The last event of the session was the 100m breast-stroke, where Mina Matsushima transpired as the fastest swimmers to enter the finals, clocking a time of 1:08.44 minutes. Kanako Watanabe and Manami Fukuda followed her into the finals by qualifying as the
second and third fastest sprinters in a time of 1:09.21 and 1:09.31 minutes, respectively.
The finals of the same events will be conducted in the second sessions, where the winners posting a time under FINA A-Time Qualification Criteria will get a chance to represent their country at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, this July.
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