• 1996 born Kanako Watanabe followed up yesterday's 1:07.10 effort in the 100 Breast with a win in the 50 Breaststroke. Her time of 31.83 set a new Junior record. Watanabe falls more into the category of a 100/200 specialist (ie. Rebecca Soni), than a 50/100 swimmer (ie. Jessica Hardy). Tomorrow's 200 should be a cracker after last month's 2:25.59 at Japanese Nationals. Another world ranked top 10 swim (sub 2:25) could be on the cards.
• Ryosuke Irie won the 200 Back in a blazing time of 1:54.55. That time is the third fastest swim since the suit ban and only Ryan Lochte and Aarson Peirsol have swum faster in a textile suit. Right now the 200 Back is shaping up to be a terrific race in Shanghai. It's hard to look past Ryan Lochte, but Irie looks like his strongest challenger. 10 days ago Tyler Clary also reported on twitter that he swam 1:54.7 in jammers... in training! Those three look to have a lead on the rest of the world right now.
