Miyu Ohtsuka and Yuka Katou win opening rounds of Women’s events in Japan Open 2011 – Swimming News
Miyu Ohtsuka and Yuka Katou have stunned their national crowd by outshining in the preliminary rounds of Women's events on day two of the 2011 Japan Open National Swimming Championships.
The session included the preliminary rounds of the Women’s 400m Individual Medley (IM), 50m butterfly, 50m breast-stroke, 400m freestyle and the 200m back-stroke.
The session started with the 400m IM, where 16-year-old Ohtsuka claimed the fastest qualification spot, by clocking a time of 4:41.31 minutes. She was followed by Izumi Katou and Miho Takahashi, who qualified as the second and third fastest swimmers, with
timings of 4:42.62 and 4:44.77 minutes, respectively.
Moments later, 24-year-old Katou dominated the 50m butterfly heats, by finishing her swim in a fastest time of 26.31 seconds. She was almost a second away from Rino Hosoda and Kaho Nagai, who touched the wall for second and third fastest spots, timing 27.12
and 27.40 seconds, respectively.
After few minutes, 14-year-old Misaki Sekiguchi presented a remarkable swim in front of the arena, occupying the top qualification seat into the finals, with a timing of 32.10 seconds. Mina Matsushima and Miku Kanasashi followed her as the second and third
fastest swimmers, posting in a 32.14 and 32.18 seconds effort.
In the 400m freestyle heats, Maiko Fujino topped the qualifiers list, posting 4:15.31 minutes for the fastest qualification. Her time was almost 10 seconds slower from the Japanese record and was 0.26 seconds away from Risa Sekine, who transpired as the
second fastest swimmer in 4:15.57 minutes. They were followed by 16-year-old Aya Takano, who secured the third fastest spot, with a timing of 4:15.67 minutes.
The last event of the session was the 200m back-stroke heats, where Sayaka Akase stunned the crowd with her alluring performance, achieving the fastest qualification spot in 2:09.99 minutes. Shiho Sakai and Yuka Kawayoke engaged each other in a neck-to-neck
swim, qualifying as the second and third fastest swimmers, with timings of 2:11.36 and 2:11.78 minutes, respectively.
The finals of the same events will take place in the evening session, where the winners will be awarded with medals and accolades for their eye-catching swims.
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