Japan’s Takeshi Kawamoto says he plans to retire after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The 28-year-old currently holds the Japanese national record in the men’s 50m fly with the 23.13 he notched in the heats of the Japan Swim this past April, the meet which represented the World Championship Trials for the nation. That outing currently ranks Kawamoto 12th in the world on the season.
At that same competition, Kawamoto placed 4th in the men’s 100m fly in a final time of 51.74, missing out on the opportunity to add that event to his lineup for Fukuoka.
The 1fly was the event in which Kawamoto represented Japan at the 2020 Olympic Games. In Tokyo, Kawamoto of Toyota Motor Corporation failed to meet his expectations, ranking 20th with a heats swim of 51.93, despite ranking as Japan’s 3rd fastest 100m flyer of all-time with a lifetime best of 51.00 from the semi-finals of Olympic Trials.
Reflecting on that Tokyo performance recently, Kawamoto said, “Even though there were no spectators, [at the Olympic Games] I still felt conflicted about not being able to achieve good results at the Olympics held in my hometown.
“I’m already planning to retire in Paris, so I’m spending my days with the feeling that I really have to cherish each and every day in order to reach the culmination of my work.” (The Answer)
As far as the 50m fly for which he’s gunning for gold later this month, Kawamoto said, “In the 50m, I was able to break my own Japanese record, and I thought I was off to a good start. There was still a lot of work to do for Paris.”
After the World Championships Kawamoto will vie for more hardware at the Asian Games set to begin in September in Hangzhou, China.
Source : Swim Swam
