Tomoko Hagiwara, who finished fourth at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, set a Japanese record in winning her first 200-meter backstroke title Wednesday at the swimming national championships.
Hagiwara clocked 2 minutes, 10.05 seconds at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, surpassing the previous mark of 2:10.32 set by Miki Nakao at the 1999 National Championships.
In other races, Takashi Yamamoto, who placed fourth at the World Championships last year, claimed victory in the men's 100-meter butterfly in 52.77 for his fifth straight national crown and seventh overall.