Oregon State Swimmer Makes Japanese Olympic Team

On the second day of competition, Haruguchi will compete in the 200 freestyle where she is seated in the third spot.

Saori Haruguchi Becomes Part Of Japanese Olympic Team. Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

TOKYO - Saori Haruguchi won her spot on the Japanese Olympic swim team by winning the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:38.94 at the Japanese Olympic trials on Tuesday.

"I have three more events left, but now I feel no pressure. I can just have fun," Haruguchi said. "It was awesome winning the 400 IM, I even had fun with all the pressure. I saw so many of my friends cheering for me; it helped me deal with the pressure. I'm so excited to practice with the national team for Beijing, but first, I want to get my business done."

Haruguchi also took first place during the preliminaries with a time of 4:41.55, cutting almost four seconds off her preliminaries time to help secure her place on the Japanese Olympic team. She also beat the second-place swimmer by more then two seconds.

On the second day of competition, Haruguchi will compete in the 200 freestyle where she is seated in the third spot.

During the third day of swimming, she will compete in the 200 individual medley and is seated in the fourth position. Haruguchi set the school record during the NCAA Championships with a time of 1:57.37, beating the previous record by more than three seconds.

On the final day of competition, Haruguchi will swim in the event where she earned her first NCAA victory, the 200 butterfly. She is seated in the 12th position. During the NCAA Championships, she made OSU history by being the first swimmer to win her event. She cut almost four seconds off the previous school record with a time of 1:52.39.

Haruguchi is the second swimmer from Oregon State University to qualify for the Olympics. Birte Steven represented Germany in the 200 breaststroke during the 2004 Olympics.

Competition will continue Wednesday when Haruguchi will compete in the first event of the evening, the 200 freestyle.

Source: OSU Athletics

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