World junior records fell to Shin Ohashi in the 200m breaststroke and Yumeki Kojima in the 200m medley at the Japan Open today.

Two days after he clocked 58.67 for the World junior mark in the 100m breaststroke, Ohashi matched the feat over 200m by shaving 0.37sec off his own standard in 2:06.59. That gave him a big win over Ippei Watanabe, on 2:08.57 as the first of three 2:08s home.

• Ohashi's splits: 27.95 59.86 1:32.86; 2:06.59.

That rattled the Japanese record held at 2:06.40 by Shoma Sato in 2:06.40 since April 2021.

In the 200IM final, Tomoyuki Matsushita, the 20-year-old Olympic 400IM silver medalist, led 17-year-old Kojima 1:55.71 to 1:56.53, the former 0.11sec shy of his best, the latter taking down Hungarian Hubert Kos' 1:56.99 global youth mark and giving Kojima a second world junior standard to add to his 400IM mark.

• RESULTS IN FULL FOR THE FOUR DAY MEET
  

March 20

Double Trouble From Steenbergen and Grousset As Evans Rattles Her record Again

Maxime Grousset and Marrit Steenbergen both claimed a brace of victories on day 1 of the Giant Open in Paris, where Angharad Evans rattled her British-record pace for the second time in a week.

French ace Grousset took the 50 'fly in 22.84, a week after a world-racks topped 22.78 in Lausanne, then returned to the fray in the 100m free for a 48.02 win over Hungary's Nandor Nemeth (48.57) and Germany's Josha Salchow (49.13).

Grousset races the 50 free tomorrow, and paid plaudits to Cameron McEvoy and his 20.88sec World mark set in China earlier today:

“What Cameron (McEvoy, who broke the 50m freestyle world record in 20.88) did is phenomenal. It looks like he’s being pulled by a rubber band. I’ll try to get closer to his time tomorrow, but it’s really amazing.”

He was less impressed with himself. Speaking through the FFN he added: “It starts well, yes and no. I thought I could win, that’s not the problem, but I thought I would do better in this 100m freestyle final. At least swimming under 48 seconds was the goal, and that wasn’t achieved today. Considering everything I have gone through these past weeks, it’s more or less understandable. There are no excuses. I think I was capable of doing it today; maybe I was a bit disconnected or tired from my previous final, but I could have swum under 48 seconds.”

For Steenbergen, gold No1 came in the 50m free ahead of teammate Milou van Wijk 24.56 to 24.64, then clocked 1:57.76 in the 200 free ahead of Britain's Freya Anderson and Hungary's Panna Ugrai, on 1:58.91 and 1:58.98 respectively.

In the 100m breaststroke, Evans matched her 1:05.46 of a week ago in Edinburgh, though the splits indicated a change of tack: 31.29/34.08 in Scotland turned into a 31.02 (0.02 inside her record pace) but 34.39 on the way home. That's what such meets aesthetic all about.

• RESULTS IN FULL

Over at The China Open:

Walsh Owns 11 Of Swiftest 100 ’Fly Swims Ever: No7 In At 55.22

China Open, Day 3: Gretchen Walsh Nails Her 16th & 17th Sub-56 100 ’Fly Swims; Zhang Outstrips Märtens With 3:41 Best 400 free; & Chalmers & Alexy Snap On 47.7 in 100 free

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Cameron McEvoy - 20.88 World Record 50m Free - Cielo’s 2009 Shiny Suit Standard Sunk

At The China Open in Shenzhen, Australian Olympic and World 50m freestyle champion has cracked the 20.91 global mark set by Brazil’s Cesar Cielo in the dying days of the short-lived shiny suits crisis in 2009

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

O’Callaghan Adds To Aussie Party With 1:53 Power Play For 200 Win At China Open

As Australian Mollie O’Callaghan delivered the second-best swim of the day, after a WR from teammate Cameron McEvoy, the China Open is the place to be for fast finalists aged 11-14 and racing for their Chinese clubs

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Zhang Just 0.14sec Shy Of Sun To Beat Märtens In 200 Free At China Open

China Open Day 1 : Zhang Zhanshuo scares disgraced Sun Yang’s China 200m free record 0.7sec ahead of Germany’s Olympic 400m champion Lukas Märtens; and Tang Qianting sets Asian 50m breaststroke record

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

U.S. Masters On Watch After Swimmer Threatened With Lifetime Ban For Backing Rules Protecting Women’s Category

Angie Griffin lost a woman’s Masters title to a male & called for U.S. Masters to adhere to the World Aquatics rule that preserves the women’s category for females only. Now, she faces a disciplinary, and U.S. Masters has in turn been put on notice by the Aquatics Integrity Unit.

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Also in the March Vortex:

• Evans Gathers Momentum For A Scottish Summer of Plenty
• Grousset Grabs Another Win Over Ponti As Giant Open Looms On Paris Horizon
• Stars Head to The Giant Open ...
• Freya Colbert Takes British 200 Free Record Below 1:55 In Edinburgh
• Filip Nowacki At The Double; Peaty Fourth In First Race Since Paris 2024 Silver
• Maxime Grousset Growls - 22.78 50 'fly in Lausanne
• Angharad Evans Scares Her Own British Record At Edinburgh International
• Florine Gaspard & Mary-Sophie Harvey At The Double In Lausanne
• Target Practice For A Summer Of Divided Speed
• Speed Unending From McKeown As Perkins Hauls Four Golds at the NSW Championships in Sydney
• Tuning Up In Westmont: Gretchen Walsh, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Sam Short, Léon Marchand, Carson Foster, Chris Guiliano were among those on the crest of the big-wave surfers starting their steady tune-up a the Swim Pro Series - Westmont

SOS FORUM:

FORUM: Does McEvoy Tell Us Dressel Will Be The Last Man To Claim The 50-100 Olympic Double?

Pieter van den Hoogenband was a 100 and 200m Olympic champ who made the 50 podium and Ian Thorpe a 200 and 400m Olympic champion who made the 100 podium. But has Cam McEvoy made it clear that the 50 and 100 are diverging into separate clubs of sprinters?

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

TIMELINE

On This Day In History - Pace-Setters Peirsol & Jones Make Their Mark

Timeline - The SOS Daily Trawl of official World long-course records (plus all pre 1954 standards, all pools and metrics) set this day throughout history.

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord