TOKYO, 26 April 2004 — World silver medalist Takashi Yamamoto clinched his second ticket for the Olympics by winning the men’s 100-meter butterfly in the national swimming championships yesterday. Yamamoto, also the world bronze medalist in the 4x100 medley relay, clocked 52.83 seconds to beat Ryo Takayasu and Tadahisa Hashizume for his seventh straight and ninth overall national title.
Yamamoto and five other swimmers cleared the qualification times for the Olympics with Reiko Nakamura and Jiro Miki making it a double, and Masami Tanaka, Aya Terakawa and Takahiro Mori taking their first.
Tanaka, the Sydney Olympic 4x100 medley relay bronze medalist who missed the Olympics in the women’s 100m breaststroke, took the 200m in 2:26.12 for her eighth national victory. Miki, already qualified in the 400m, clocked a new national record of 1:59.99 to win the men’s 200m individual medley, regaining the title from defending champion Mori, who came in second in 2:00.47.
