Japan's top female swimmer Tomoko Hagiwara is set to miss this year's World Swimming Championships in Barcelona after deciding to skip the upcoming nationals, swimming sources said Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Sydney Olympian is still recovering from a stress-related illness and will sit out of this month's national meet in Yokohama, which also serves as a trial for the Japan team for the World Championships in July.
"Hagiwara is in good condition and is focusing her training on the Athens Olympics," said Hagiwara's coach Tadahiko Kanda.