By Retta Race on SwimSwam
102nd JAPAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday, June 4th – Sunday, June 7th Tokyo Aquatics Centre LCM (50m) SwimSwam Preview Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap Meet Central Entries Live ResultsThe fourth and final day of the 102nd Japan Swimming Championships unfolded at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with athletes vying for any potential remaining slots on the nation’s roster for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships.
19-year-old Kazushi Imafuku made his presence known in a big way, taking on the men’s 1500m freestyle final.
After capturing the top seed yesterday in a speedy 15:05.28, the World Junior Championships multi-medalist entered another gear to deliver a stellar result of 14:55.04, a new Japanese University record.
Behind him was 2nd-seeded Kaito Tabuchi who logged 15:01.36, while Daichi Yamamoto touched in 15:11.80 to round out the podium.
National record holder Tabuchi’s Japanese standard rests at the 14:45.47 he notched just this past March. Imafuku’s PB checks in at the 14:50.18 earned last year.
The men’s 400m IM also saw some electricity, with 19-year-old Asaki Nishikawa putting up a head-turning mark of 4:08.66 to grab the gold.
The teen notched the sole outing of the field under the 4:10 barrier, with Raito Numata hitting a still-solid effort of 4:10.29 for silver, as Riku Yamaguchi notched 4:10.69 as the bronze medalist.
It was at last November’s Japan Open where Nishikawa unleashed a monster new lifetime best of 4:07.67 to not only rank 3rd in the world on the season, but to check in as Japan’s 4th-fastest performer of all time.
Aligned with the nation’s storied history in the IM events, Japanese men have claimed five of the positions among the top ten performers on the season.
2025-2026 LCM Men 400 IM
TomoyukiJPNMatsushita03/224:06.932Carson Foster USA4:07.0212/053AsakiNishikawaJPN4:07.6711/294YumekiKojimaJPNWJR 4:08.8403/225LeonMARCHANDFRA4:09.3305/016LewisCLAREBURTNZL4:09.4705/177William PetricAUS4:10.2004/088RAITONUMATA JPN4:10.2906/079RikuYamaguchiJPN4:10.6906/0710Max LitchfieldGBR4:11.6904/15View Top 26»The final of the men’s 100m butterfly was also filled with rapid results, as Yoshitoku Narushima led a podium where all three swimmers cleared the 52-second threshold.
Narushima posted a time of 51.31 to hold a healthy advantage over Tomonobu Gomi, who snagged silver in 51.63. National record holder Katsuhiro Matsumoto also landed on the podium in 51.70, good enough for bronze.
Narushima’s outing tonight represented a big-time personal best, hacking nearly half a second off the former PB of 51.80 put on the books at the Japan Swim in March. He now ranks as Japan’s 9th-best performer of all time in the event.
On the women’s side of the house, 35-year-old Olympic medalist Satomi Suzuki continued to defy age, beating her competitors en route to claiming gold in the 50m breaststroke.
Suzuki stopped the clock at 30.39 to check in with the sole sub-31-second result of the pack.
Pan Pacific Junior Championships multi-medalist Kotomi Kato was relegated to runner-up status in 31.30, and Hiroko Makino claimed the bronze in 31.42.
Suzuki’s performance here was just a hair off her season-best of 30.32 notched in March to take over the 8th position in the season’s world rankings.
Finally, 19-year-old World Championships silver medalist Mio Narita got the job done for gold in the women’s 400m IM.
She delivered a time of 4:35.16 to get to the wall over five seconds ahead of the field, establishing a new season-best in the process.
She managed to keep Waka Kobori at bay, with the versatile swimmer settling for silver in 4:40.75, as Misuzu Nagaoka bagged the bronze in 4:41.93.
Narita’s performance at this competition wasn’t terribly far off the 4:33.26 she turned in to share the silver medal podium tier with Australia’s Jenna Forrester at the 2025 World Championships.
Additional Notes
Nothing too crazy happened in the men’s 50m freestyle, as no competitor dipped into the 21-second territory when the medals were on the line. Shunichi Nakao was the top performer, hitting 22.12 as the gold medalist. Ryusei Shigeto touched in 22.15 as teh silver medalist, and Shuya Matsumoto, the reigning Japanese national record holder, sneaked onto the podium in 22.22 for bronze. Of note, former national record holder Shinri Shioura claimed the B-Final victory in an outing of 22.36. In addition to the women’s 400m IM final, Kobori also tried the 800m freestyle on for size. The World University Games multi-medalist put up a mark of 8:33.16 to grab the gold, getting to the wall over a second ahead of the pack. Haruno Tanimoto logged 8:34.70 for silver, and Rin Matsuzaki notched 8:36.15 for bronze. Kobori has been much swifter in her career, owning a lifetime best of 8:26.62 from 2024 to rank as Japan’s 5th-speediest woman in history. The men’s 50m back saw Reo Miura clock a gold medal-worthy time of 24.96. That got him to the top of the podium ahead of Ryo Hayasaka‘s time of 25.12 and Toya Hirata‘s effort of 25.29. Yume Jinno put her personal best on notice en route to claiming victory in the women’s 50m freestyle final. The 23-year-old turned in a time of 25.21 as the gold medalist, falling just .03 outside her PB of 25.18 nabbed at last year’s Japan Sports Festival. Ayuu Mizoguchi was next to the wall in 25.25, with Toa Matsuura rounding out the podium in 25.29. Three-time Olympian Rikako Ikee was the top athlete in the B-final, with her outing of 25.63 getting her to the wall ahead of all others in that runner-up race.Read the full story on SwimSwam: Japanese Men Now Own Five Spots Among Top Ten 400 IMers In The World This Season
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