Olympic Heartbreak - Fumiko Kawanabe

Fumiko Kawanabe on the right after finishing 3rd in the 100m Breaststroke.

As is always the case in Olympic years, for every jubilant swimmer that makes the Olympic Games, they're are always far more cases of distraught swimmers who have dedicated years of their life towards a goal to come up just short.

Every nation that has already had their Olympic trials have their own examples, but surely none have come close to the anguish Fumiko Kawanabe must be feeling.

On Wednesday Kawanabe finished third in the 100m Breaststroke, an agonising 0.02 seconds behind Mina Matsushima. Her time of 1:07.56 put her inside the world's top 10 this year at the time and inside Japan's tough Olympic qualifying cuts.

Missing out by 0.02 seconds in one event is gut wrenching enough for one person, but then today Kawanabe finished third once again in the 200m Breaststroke. The way the race unfolded was also crushing. Kawanabe went out for the race with searing speed, turning at 100m in 1:08.88 she was a second and a half clear of the rest of the field, at 150m she still held a second advantage over her closest challenger, but she couldn't quite hold on. This time she finished 0.27 seconds behind 15 year old Kanako Watanabe in a time of 2:23.83. Her time was good enough to move her all the way up to 4th in the world this year. That's right, Kawanabe is now the 4th fastest swimmer in the world this year and also 25th fastest in the event all-time, and still missed out on making the Olympic team.

If that hasn't pulled on the heart strings quite enough, let me continue. Kawanabe was born in 1984, a full 12 years earlier than Watanabe and 7 years earlier than 100m and 200m winner Satomi Suzuki. She has never been to an Olympic games before, and at the age of 28, the chances of her carrying on/making the 2016 team seem remote at best.

Both times this week were best times for Kawanabe, so hopefully she can take some solace from that, but for all the stories of disappointment you'll see this year, you'll be hard pressed to see one as sad as Fumiko Kawanabe.

Delving into Japan's Depth In The Men's 200m Fly

A Japanese swimmer probably won't win the Men's 200m Fly in London. They might even come away empty handed, although with the strength of Takeshi Matsuda in the event that is looking unlikely at this stage. However, no nation can compete with the depth that Japan has in the Men's 200m Butterfly.

During today's heats at Japan Swim the top four men swam 1:56s and it took 2:00.02 just to qualify 16th into the semi finals. In tonight's semi finals it took a staggering 1:57.29 to make the final in 8th position. Matsuda led the way in 1:54.19.

To put this in context, here is what it took to make the final in some of the other major swimming nations to have held their Olympic trials:

Britain - 2:00.10
Australia - 2:00.31
Canada - 2:02.75
France - 2:04.96
China (only finals results available, so 8th place in the final) - 2:01.22

The one nation missing is of course USA. They are still yet to hold their trials, but here is a recap of the 8th placed times at the last two US Nationals:

2011 National Championships - 1:59.11
2010 National Championships - 1:59.75


Having incredible depth in an event does not make a huge difference in the overall medal table, but in an event that has been dominated by Michael Phelps for over a decade and one that will soon be up for grabs once the great man retires, Japan has put itself in a tremendous position to be leading the pack in a post-Phelps world.

Kosuke Kitajima Races To A 58.90 100m Breast (With Race Video)

Kosuke Kitajima is a rock star, breaking his own Asian record by 0.01, which just so happened to be set in the 2008 Olympic final. The time is the 5th fastest of all-time and he becomes just the second man under 59 seconds in a textile suit.

Ryo Tateishi, 2nd in 59.60, moved to 2nd in the 2012 world rankings.

Kitajima has now put himself within range of Norway's Alexander Dale Oen and his time of 58.71 set in Shanghai last year and keeps alive the chance to become the first male swimmer to win the same event in three consecutive Olympics.

Dale Oen set his time off a scorching first 50m split of 27.20, compared to Kitajima's still rapid 27.69, but it's worth noting that the Japanese star brought the race home significantly faster, 31.21 to 31.51. An Olympic final showdown between the two is set to be one of the highlights of the London Olympics.

(Thanks to Swimmer's Daily for the video find and 真之介 山田 for the video itself)

Japanese Olympic Trials

Expect the world rankings to have a significant Japanese presence this time next week. The always fast Japan Swim (also serving as their Olympic Trials) start tomorrow.

Among the key storylines will be Kosuke Kitajima going up against the world's deepest domestic group of Breaststrokers. He will hope to keep his dream alive of becoming the first male swimmer in history to win the same event at three consecutive Olympic games.

Also watch out for Ryosuke Irie in the 200m Backstroke. Mr Consistency over the last few years, he is the biggest threat to Ryan Lochte and based on his 1:54.02 from January could be primed to take the next step up to the American's lofty heights.

Finally, look out for a number of the talented Japanese youngsters to move themselves from the potential category, to the legitimate medal contender group. Among those to watch out for are Kanako Watanabe (200m Breaststroke), Daiya Seto, Kosuke Hagino (both 400m IM), Miyu Otsuka (400m IM) and Sayaka Akase (200m Backstroke).

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