Kosuke Hagino cruised to victory in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle race on the opening day of the Japan Open on Friday.
Hagino came home in a time of 15 minutes, 5.35 seconds at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Ayatsugu Hirai, who clocked 15:08.51. Naito Ehara was third with a time of 15:14.66.
In other races, Daiya Seto won the men's 200 butterfly in 1:54.46 and Kanako Watanabe took the women's 100 breaststroke in 1:06.95.
Ryo Tateishi touched the wall in 1:00.85 to win the men's 100 breaststroke, and former Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima could only manage fifth place in 1:01.28. Yasuhiro Koseki failed to make the final and was 12th.
Ryosuke Irie won the men's 100 backstroke in 53.41, while the women's 200 butterfly title went to Natsumi Hoshi (2:06.90).