JOY FOR JAPAN
- Amp Media
- Feb 17, 2019
- 2 min read
By Amp Media| For World Para Swimming
Japan picked up two golds on the final evening, the first of them going to Mei Ichinose in the women’s 200m individual medley. Her victory relegated Tiffany Thomas Kane to second place, denying the 17-year-old Australian a third gold medal at this event. The bronze went to Hong Kong China’s Chan You Lam.
“The 200m individual medley is my main event,” Ichinose said. “I knew it was going to be tough. This morning [in the prelim] was good, but I’m really happy that I went two seconds faster in the finals.
“I’ve got my trials for the world champs in two weeks back in Japan. This is really going to help my confidence in the trials, so I am really happy with that and with the gold.”
Ichinose was quick to praise the format of the World Series in Melbourne, which was combined with the Victorian State Championships.
“It was also a great experience swimming in a competition alongside the able-bodied athletes here and I hope that more events introduce that in the future,” she said. “I loved all the support here and swimming as part of a team. It was a great feeling.”
Australia’s Liam Schluter had already picked up silver and bronze medals in Melbourne, and finally pocketed a coveted gold when he won the event’s penultimate race, the men’s 200m freestyle, ahead of Tang Wai Lok of Hong Kong China. Jack Ireland, of Australia, took the bronze.
The hosts also looked strong in the final race, the women’s 200m freestyle, but it was Japan who brought down the curtain on Melbourne 2019 courtesy of a gold medal-winning swim from Amisa Kitano.
Fifteen-year-old Ruby Storm took silver for Australia - her second medal of the weekend - and Jade Lucy finished third.
Eight countries shared the 66 medals available: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Hong Kong China, Belgium, Kazakhstan and Singapore.
The season resumes in Indianapolis, USA, from 4-6 April. The other hosts are Sao Paulo, Brazil (25-27 April); Glasgow, Great Britain (25-28 April); Singapore (10-12 May); Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy (30 May-2 June); and Berlin, Germany (6-9 June).
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