Japan's talents set for Shanghai qualifier

Shinji Higashijima, FINA Press Correspondent in Japan

A big swim meet is coming up this weekend: The Japan Open 2011 (50m) will be held at Namihaya-Dome in Kadoma of Osaka, Japan, from May 20-22 2011. The Japan Open 2011 is a trial for the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, this July.
Japan's famous breaststroke aces Kosuke Kitajima and Naoya Tomita are in good shape and expected to swim well at the Japan Open.
More than 30 high school swimmers (about 20 girls and 10 boys, and 5 junior-high school girls) are improving quickly to the nation’s top level. They swam strongly at the finals of their events at the 2011 Japan Trial held in April. Unfortunately none of them made the team for Shanghai.

However they will make sure they are on the team for the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships to be held in Lima, Peru in August.
In Water Polo, Japan's national teams (13 players for each the women's and men's) will compete at the Asia/Oceania tournament of the 2011 FINA World League in Auckland, New Zealand from May 19-22.
In diving, the national team (four female and four male divers), including Mai Nakagawa and Ken Terauchi are working hard to perform their best in Shanghai this summer. (fina)