At the FISU World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, swimming club member WATANABE Yuta, a third-year student at the School of Business Administration, won silver in the men’s 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay.
On the morning of July 17 (local time), the Japanese team advanced from the heat, setting a new Japanese student record with a time of 3:15.12 and placing second among 25 teams. WATANABE recorded a personal best of 48. 51. in his leg. In the final around at 8 p.m., WATANABE swam the third leg with a split of 48.60., lifting the team from third to second before handing off to the anchor. With a time of 3:14.19 — shaving nearly a full second off the Japanese student record they had set in the heat— the Japanese team finished second behind the United States, earning Japan its first medal of the Games.
Pre-final huddle: the Japanese team with Swimming Club head coach SANO Hidemasa (Graduated from the School of Law in 2007)
Comment from WATANABE Yuta
I was able to improve my personal best by 0.5 seconds in the heat, and we made it to the final. I wasn’t as fast in the final, but I’m happy that we came in second — so close to catching Team USA— and set a new Japanese student record for the first time.
I was able to improve my personal best by 0.5 seconds in the heat, and we made it to the final. I wasn’t as fast in the final, but I’m happy that we came in second — so close to catching Team USA— and set a new Japanese student record for the first time.
Relaxed swimmers in the waiting room after the final. WATANABE is second from the left
(All photos courtesy of the Meiji University Swimming Club)