Japan Swim 2023: Reborn Watanabe Ippei surging towards home World Aquatics Championships
The Rio 2016 finalist and former 200m breaststroke world record holder - who failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020 - says he is enjoying his swimming again after winning twice at the Japanese trials.
Swimming
Watanabe Ippei is back.
The former world record holder and Rio 2016 Olympic finalist won the 200m breaststroke at Japan Swim 2023 on Friday (7 April) to qualify for the World Aquatics Championships for the first time in four years.
His time of 2:07.73 in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre was the second fastest in the world this year behind Qin Haiyang's 2:07.60.
Watanabe also won the 100m breaststroke on the opening day of the Japanese trials, but his 59.52 was outside the qualifying standard for Fukuoka by just three-hundredths of a second.
“I think it’s my first 2:07 in about three years,” Watanabe said. “There are a lot of things I could’ve done better but all that aside, I’m happy with the result and being number one in the country again.”
"The thing is, I haven’t been able to properly train since I injured my lower back in February. I want to work harder than anyone in the world for the next three months and take a swing at [Zac] Stubblety-Cook,” he said, referring to the reigning Olympic champion who holds the current world record of 2:05.95.
Watanabe is relishing taking on the Australian in Fukuoka in July, but a lot has happened since Watanabe last appeared on the world stage.
Watanabe Ippei: Returning to the big time
Watanabe swam an Olympic record in the semi-finals at Rio 2016 aged 19, but could only finish sixth in the final.
Months later, he became the first man in history to break 2:07 for the 200m breaststroke, heightening expectations for his home Olympic Games.
But the gold medal hope did not even qualify for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, finishing only third in the trials behind Sato Shoma.
That failure left him emotional and mentally distraught.
Watanabe has suffered with knee issues over the years, and just returned from a recent back injury.
But the 26-year-old, who beat Sato in Tokyo to claim the national title, says he is enjoying being in the pool again thanks to his new coach Takashiro Naoki.
"I’m really having fun swimming lately, even with all the tough practices,” said Watanabe, who started working with Takashiro in January.
"The environment has changed. I’m under coach Takashiro’s tutelage now and my approach is to enjoy the hard work and not just work hard. We’re all pushing each other on the team but laughing while we’re doing it. It’s how I’ve made it back this far.
“I’m still two seconds behind Stubblety-Cook so I really want to push myself from here.”
July's World Championships is very much a home event for Watanabe who hails from Oita, just over two hours' drive from Fukuoka on the western island of Kyushu.
That is motivation in itself, but Watanabe appears more relaxed than he has done for some time.
"I was confident of a new PB here so, being honest, I wish my time was better,” he said. "But this is the first time I’ve won at the nationals since December 2020 so I’m not going to lie. I’m thrilled.
"I’ve been looking forward to the World Championships in Fukuoka for a long time since I’m from Kyushu. From here on, I need to train harder than ever. I need to train with confidence, knowing that I’m capable of breaking the world record.
"I am going to have fun swimming more than anyone else in the world.”