Athens Olympic bronze medallist Reiko Nakamura clinched her second ticket to the Beijing Olympics when she won the women's 200-metre backstroke at the Japan national swimming championships on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Nakamura, who has already qualified in the 100m, was faster than her own national record until the last five metres before slowing down to touch home in two minutes 08.80 seconds. It was her second straight and fifth overall victory in the distance, making up for her defeat to Hanae Ito in the 100m on Thursday.
Ito also earned a second berth for the Olympics by clocking 2:09.41 for second, followed by Aya Terakawa third in 2:11.28, who did not qualify. "I was determined to win at any cost and qualify for the Olympics," said Nakamura, who missed a new national record by 0.26 seconds.
"I slowed down at the last moment. I'm going to salvage this disappointment at the Beijing Olympics. Hopefully, I can bring back a heavier medal than I took at the Athens Olympics," she added.
Ito appeared dissatisfied despite qualifying for August's Games. "It was very disappointing that I was slower than my personal best, but I think my disappointment in the past four years not to qualify for Athens was cleared away with this race," said Ito, 23.
The biggest surprise of the championships came from Athens Olympic silver medallist Takashi Yamamoto, who failed to qualify for the men's 100m and 200m butterfly. Yamamoto finished third in the 200m on Wednesday and fourth in the 100m on Sunday.
Winner Masayuki Kishida, who set a new national record of 51.86, and Takuro Fujii, who timed 52.25, both qualified instead in the 100m.
Kishida also earned a place in the 4x100m medley relay. The final day saw three other swimmers qualify for the Beijing Games, including Megumi Taneda and Rie Kaneto in the women's 200m breaststroke, and Haruka Ueda. Taneda clocked 2:24.54 to regain the title she won three years ago, beating Kaneto in 2:26.28 and defending champion Nanaka Tamura in 2:26.66. "I wanted to qualify by setting a new national record in the 200m, but I did what I have to do in the race. I just did my 100 percent. I must train harder not to slow down in the latter half before August," said Taneda, 21.
Ueda, who has qualified for the 4x200m freestyle relay, enjoyed her first victory in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.60, which missed the qualification time but earned a place in the 4x100m medley relay. In other races, Hisayoshi Sato won the men's 100m freestyle in 49.70 for his second straight title, while Takeshi Matsuda dominated the men's 1,500m freestyle in 15:15.67 - much slower than the qualification time.
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