Japanese Olympic Swim Team Hits Peak Form a Little Early

Japanese swimming Coach Koji Ueno’s 21-member Olympic team has lived up to its billing as the dominant force this weekend at the 20th Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo.

The Japanese have posted several personal and national marks here and believe they are on the right path toward the Sydney Olympics. Americans are in the midst of heavy training--six weeks away from Olympic trials. So the Japanese have won many of the races here easily.

Ueno says meet record-breaking performances are just part of the goal for his highly trained swimmers, who arrived here in top shape even though it’s early in the Olympic cycle.

“Team spirit,” he said loudly in English, before explaining to a translator: “We need to learn about being a team. Every single team in the world realizes that Americans don’t need to select an Olympic team as early as we do, because they know how to come together as a team when it is needed most.”

Teamwork may be the central theme, but there’s no mistaking that the Japanese, who also sent a junior national team to a meet in Santa Clara this weekend, have come to make a point. They started well in Mission Viejo, winning the men’s and women’s 800-meter freestyle events in meet-record times. On Friday they won four events, set two more meet records and had two swimmers finish second. Entering the final day of competition today, they now hold eight meet records.

But the Americans have said they view the event in Mission Viejo as nothing more than another practice meet. They point to the fact that most Americans have not shaved all body hair, a common practice that cuts water resistance and produces faster times. The Japanese, on the other hand, arrived with cleanly shaved bodies.

“The Japanese are extremely motivated because they have a lot to prove back home because the level of swimming there has come up dramatically,” said John Dussliere, assistant coach of the host Mission Viejo Nadadores, who will host the Japanese junior national team Monday for two weeks of training. “They’ve been developing their junior level swimmers and what you are seeing here this weekend is the result of that.”

For many of Ueno’s swimmers, some of whom have been training abroad for months, this is the first time they have met. For others, it’s the first time they have performed with the pressure of competing for their nation.

Japanese team captain Masato Hirano talked about the team theme after swimming to victory on the first day in the 800 freestyle.

“I try to do my best and swim for my team and I hope that my performance will be good for my teammates,” said Hirano, who trains in Australia. “I want our team to be successful.”

How the team effort shapes up is of great importance in Japan, where large stories in daily newspapers and lengthy spots on television and radio are common.

“Each swimmer has trained as an individual for so long,” said Hirofumi Miki of the Kyodo News. “This is a very big chance to get together as a team, not just work out in a training camp. There is much interest in Japan about this.”

U.S. national men’s Coach Mark Schubert said teamwork is something that comes naturally to Americans.

“It’s one of the things we do best,” he said. “We have such a strong history in club, high school and college swimming that we don’t need to select our Olympic team so early. When we get a team together, we can still focus on each other and teamwork.”

Mexican national team butterfly swimmer Juan Veloz, a graduate of Mission Viejo High, said it’s still a long way to Sydney, where results could be vastly different than they have been this weekend in Mission Viejo. Like Japan and Canada, Mexico has settled on its Olympic squad.

“There’s not that many Mexican swimmers, so we can choose a team earlier,” he said. “For the U.S. it’s good to select the team right before the Olympics because the U.S. has some of the best swimmers in the world and they’ll more likely be in their best form much later in the year.”

Ueno’s concentration on teamwork and performance this weekend was evident. Consider 17-year-old freestyle swimmer Sachiko Yamada. She set a meet record in winning the 800 freestyle on opening night, but a day later couldn’t pull off an expected victory in the 400 freestyle and finished second.

Yamada hung her head after leaving the victory stand and her eyes appeared heavy when she said she felt like she let her teammates down.

“I’m sad,” she said. “I don’t know the words to tell you how I feel. Just sad.”

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Chad Carvin Sets Record

Laguna Hills High alumnus sets meet record in 200 freestyle at Swim Meet of Champions. Page 13