Maiko Fujino

Maiko Fujino
Personal information
Nationality  Japan
Born 25 May 1983
Adachi, Tokyo, Japan
Height 1.61 m (5 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Weight 55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, medley
Club FB International (JPN)
Coach Taro Fujii

Maiko Fujino (藤野 舞子 Fujino Maiko, born May 25, 1983 in Adachi, Tokyo) is a Japanese swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle and individual medley events.[1] She is a multiple-time medalist at the FINA World Cup, a four-time medley medalist at two Asian Games (2002 in Busan, South Korea, and 2006 in Doha, Qatar), and a bronze medalist in the 800 m freestyle, at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.[2][3] Fujino is also a student at Takushoku University in Tokyo.

Fujino first appeared in an international scene, when she earned a bronze in the 400 m individual medley at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama with a time of 4:45.79.[4] The following year, Fujino picked up two more medals in the same stroke (silver in the 400, and bronze in the 200) at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, South Korea, with respective times of 2:17.41 and 4:48.44.[5][6]

Five years later, Fujino qualified for two swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing FINA A-standard entry times of 8:34.17 (800 m freestyle) and 4:40.14 (400 m individual medley) from the Olympic trials in Tokyo.[7] On the first day of the Games, Fujino posted her personal best of 4:37.35 in the preliminary heats of the 400 m individual medley, but missed out the final by less than 0.21 of a second in eleventh place.[8] In her second event, 800 m freestyle, Fujino challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat, including former Olympic champion Camelia Potec of Romania, 14-year-old Li Xuanxu of China, and top medal favorite Katie Hoff of the United States. She raced to sixth place by five seconds behind Venezuela's Andreina Pinto in 8:35.60. For the second time, Fujino failed to qualify for the final, as she placed twenty-first overall in the preliminaries.[9]

Fujino also became the first female Japanese swimmer to dip under 4:30 barrier in the 400 m individual medley, breaking a Japanese record of 4:29.77 at the 2009 Japan Open in Tokyo.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Maiko Fujino". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Qi Hui grabs women's 400m individual medley at Asiad". Xinhua News Agency. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Asian Games: Tae Hwan Park Earns Third Gold, Zhao Jing Still Posting Fast Times". Swimming World Magazine. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Australia dominates Pan Pacifics". Sports Illustrated (CNN). 24 August 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Jeffrey, Josh (29 August 2003). "Klochkova Wins Two at World University Games". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Jeffrey, Josh (25 August 2003). "World University Games, Day 2: Prilukov Sets Games Mark in the 800 Free, Christianson Wins 100 Fly". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Mochizuki, Hideki (19 April 2008). "Japanese Olympic Trials: Add Hanae Itoh to Sub-Minute 100 Back Club". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Women's 400m Individual Medley Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Women's 800m Freestyle Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Japan Open: Plenty of Record Swims". Swimming World Magazine. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2012.

External links