The Japan Amateur Swimming Federation (JASF) on Monday announced its team for the Sydney Olympics in September, naming gold medal hopes Mai Nakamura and Masami Tanaka, while ignoring veteran freestyler Suzu Chiba.
The federation named 21 swimmers -- nine men and 12 women -- to the Olympic delegation, a sizable cut from the 27 who were sent to the 1996 Atlanta Games and returned home with only three fourth-place finishes.
The delegation will include world silver medalist Nakamura in the women's 100-meter backstroke and Tanaka, who posted the world's second-best time in the women's 100-meter breaststroke in winning the event at last week's National Championships in Tokyo.
On the men's side, Akira Hayashi was named to his third Olympic team after competing in the 1992 Barcelona Games and in Atlanta four years later.
Notably absent from the women's squad is the national 200-meter freestyle record holder and two-time Olympian Chiba, who was excluded from the team following a meeting of JASF officials Sunday night.
Chiba, who had been suffering from a cold last week, won her specialty at the nationals, but officials noted that her winning time would have ranked only 17th in the world last year.
They were further disappointed that she could only manage a third-place finish in the 100 meters.
Chiba, third in the world championships at 400 meters in 1991, is expected to retire, swimming sources said. Her best finish in the Olympics was sixth place in the 200 at the Barcelona Games, while she failed to advance to the finals in either the 200 or 400 in Atlanta.