Versatile swimmer Tomoko Hagiwara set a national record in the women's 200-meter backstroke Monday when a handful of records fell on the opening day of the national short-course championships.
Hagiwara, a Japanese representative at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, coasted to victory with a time of 2 minutes, 5.10 seconds at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, breaking Mai Nakamura's previous record by 1.32 seconds.
New national records were also set by Tomoko Nagai, winner of the women's 100-meter freestyle in 54.35, and Naoya Sonoda, who claimed the men's 200-meter backstroke title in 1:55.01.
Tomohiro Okuno swam to a national record 49.18 in his heat of the men's 100-meter freestyle. The national short-course championships were not held the last two years due to a tight competition schedule for long-course events.
At the diving pool of the Tatsumi venue, Takiri Miyazaki, bronze medalist in the synchronized diving at last year's World Championships in Fukuoka, won the women's 10-meter platform for the second straight year with 482.43 points.