CAPAS, Tarlac—Japan had an impressive start at the 11th Asian Age Group Championships on Monday, setting new meet records in nine of the 10 events it dominated at the New Clark City Aquatics Center here.
Yumeki Kojima won the boys’ 15-17 200m Individual Medley in 1:01.13, erasing the record of compatriot Hagino Kasuke (2:01.32) in 2009.
Vietnamese Quang Thuan Nguyen (2:04.79) and Japanese Raito Numata (2:05.98) finished second and third, respectively.
Kojima later led the 400m freestyle relay team to victory with a record-breaking time of 3:25.32. Other members of the team are Iyu Matsuyama, Raito Numata and Hirata Ando, who had earlier bagged the 400m freestyle gold medal.
In the 12-14 category, Shin Ohashi, Toya Hirata, Minami Yui and Mana Ishikawa delivered two gold medals each, and Misaki Kasahara got one.
Ohashi won the 100m breaststroke in 1:02.69 to better the record of fellow Japanese Yamato Okadome (1:04.55), while Hirata topped the 50m backstroke in 26.31 to erase the record of compatriot Ryu Hiroki (27.34) in the boys division.
The 400m freestyle relay team of Ohashi, Hirata, Yusei Nishiono and Iori Miyasaki grabbed the gold medal in 3:33.67, shattering the 3:34.60 record of Japan in 2019.
In the girls’ division, Yui clocked 2:02.27 to win the 200m freestyle, improving the 2:03.50 mark of Japanese Maho Takiguchi, while Ishikawa secured the 200m IM gold medal with a time of 2:15.83, smashing Chinese Yin Jiahe’s record of 2:17.52.
The 400m freestyle relay team of Yui, Ishikawa, Rei Nakano and Haruno Tanimoto clocked 3:50.22 to break the 3:50.80 record also set by Japan in 2009.
Kasahara erased the record of Chinese Wang Xingyun (29.20) in the 50m backstroke with her 29.07 performance.
Meanwhile, India’s Srihari Nataraj won the 18 and over 200m freestyle in 1:49.72 to improve the 1:50.14 record of compatriot Virdhawal Khade. He collected his second gold medal in the 50m backstroke.
Thailand’s Kamonchanok Kwanmuang became the tournament’s first triple-gold winner after ruling the women’s 200m freestyle, 200m IM and 800m freestyle in the 18 and over category.
The other gold medalists were Vietnam’s Thanh Bao Pham (men’s 100m breaststroke), Hung Nguyen Tran (men’s 200 IM) and Huy Hoang Nguyen (men’s 800m freestyle), and Kazakhstan’s Adelaida Pchelintzeva (women’s 100m breaststroke) and Xineya Ignatova (50m backstroke) in the 18 and over category; Hong Kong’s Sai Ting Adam (boys 100m breaststroke), Malia Ma (girls 200m IM) and Gilaine Ma (girls 400m freestyle), Kazakhstan’s Yegor Popov (boys 50m backstroke), Macau’s Pui Lam Chen (girls 100m breaststroke) and Chinese Taipei’s Pei Hsuan Li (girls 50 backstroke) in the 15-17 category; and Hong Kong’s Wui Kiu Man (girls 100m breaststroke), Vietnam’s Van Hoang Quy Duong (boys 200m IM) and Chinese Taipei’s Yung-Cheng Kan (boys 200m freestyle) in the 12-14 category.
The country’s best effort on opening day was fourth place in the girls 15-17 400m freestyle (Heather White) and the boys 12-14 50m backstroke and 200m IM (Jamesray Michael Ajido).
