Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto qualified for his third Olympics by winning the 200-meter individual medley at national trials on Saturday.
Seto touched the wall in 1 minute, 56.87 seconds, well inside the qualifying time of 1:57.51, on the second-to-last day of the trials at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Runner-up So Ogata missed the qualifying time by 0.01 of a second.
The top two finishers meeting each event's qualifying time set by the Japan Swimming Federation will go to the Paris Olympics this summer.
"I'd like to rewrite my personal best time and win a medal at the Olympics," said Seto, the 400 IM bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
"I didn't feel much pressure (for the 200 final) because I've been doing this since I was a little kid. I just tried to stay calm and do what I could until the end."
No swimmer qualified in the day's other two finals, the men's 50-meter freestyle and the women's 200-meter backstroke.
On Sunday, Rikako Ikee will try to qualify for her second event in Paris when she swims in the 50-meter freestyle final. The 23-year-old star, known for her competitive comeback from leukemia, earned her 100 butterfly berth Monday.
Yui Ohashi will swim in the women's 200-meter individual medley final after missing out on her Paris Games berth in the 400 meters Tuesday. She was the winner in both individual medley events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.