Miho Takahashi seizes Women's 400m IM title: Day two – 2011 Swimming World Cup, Tokyo
Miho Takahashi of Japan met the expectations of her fans by winning gold medal of Women's 400m Individual Medley (IM) on day two of 2011 Swimming World Cup in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, November 13.
Tokyo is the last stop of the 2011 World Cup series, organised by Federation Internationale De Natation (FINA).
The 19-year-old Takahashi grabbed gold medal of the IM discipline by clocking a time of 4 minutes and 29.98 seconds.
With her wonderful effort, she remained nearly seven seconds slower than the World Cup mark of 4 minutes and 22.88 seconds, made by Kathryn Meaklim of South Africa in 2009. She also remained almost eight seconds behind from the World record of 4 minutes
and 21.04 seconds, held by Julia Smit of USA in December 2009.
The gold medallist was trailed by her team-member, Miyu Ohtsuka, who was almost two seconds behind and stepped on the podium for silver medal by clocking a time of 4 minutes and 31.84 seconds. She was trailed by Emu Higuchi of Japan, who was 1.51 seconds
behind and secured the podium for bronze medal with the timing of 4 minutes and 33.35 seconds.
The fourth spot of the race was secured by Higuchi's team-member, Ayaka Komatsubara, who was just 0.10 seconds slower than her former finisher and settled as the fourth swimmer on the finishing end with a timing of 4 minutes and 33.45 seconds.
She was followed by her team-mate Sakiko Shimizu, who occupied fifth fastest spot in a time of 4 minutes and 35.22 seconds. Shimizu remained 0.24 seconds ahead of her following swimmer, Kyouka Suenaga, who obtained sixth best spot by reporting a time of
4 minutes and 35.46 seconds.
The seventh spot of the event was earned by Saki Miyagi of Japan, who remained approximately four seconds slower than her preceding swimmer and completed her race in a time of 4 minutes and 39.88 seconds.
The session came to an end after the breath-taking performances of all finalists, who tried to prove their mettle for podium finishes. In addition, the podium finishers were invited on the victory stand and received their accolades after the session.
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