Kosuke Hagino was made to work again at the national swimming championships Friday, when he claimed a narrow victory in the men's 200-meter freestyle.
The Rio Olympic gold medalist came from behind over the last 50 meters to win in 1 minute, 47.29 seconds for his first title of the meet at Nippon Gaishi Arena.
"The race unfolded the way I wanted it to, but I was kind of surprised by how slow my time was," said Hagino, who holds the national record of 1:45.23. "But this is what happens when you haven't competed in a while. You can only learn how to race by actually racing.