Our Town Inagi 2022: Chiba Misuzu

Won three medals at the 45th National JOC Junior Olympic Cup Summer Swimming Competition!

First Medal at the National Championship

Chiba Misuzu, a 5th grader (11 years old) from Inagi Dai 3 Elementary School, achieved remarkable results at the 45th National JOC Junior Olympic Cup Summer Swimming Competition held at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center from August 22 to 26, 2022, winning 2nd place in the girls' 50m freestyle, 3rd place in the 50m backstroke, and 3rd place in the 50m butterfly in the under 10 category. Reflecting on this achievement, Chiba said, "I was very happy. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I finally earned a medal."
This national competition is held twice a year, in summer and spring, and Chiba has participated three times so far. In the competition last summer, Chiba was unable to advance to the finals, which was frustrating. For this year's spring competition, Chiba set a goal to reach the finals, and to win a medal in the summer competition. True to the goal, Chiba advanced to the finals in all three events participated in the spring competition, and won medals in all three events in the summer competition. When asked about the feelings upon achieving the goal, Chiba said, "I was very happy to achieve my goal and to set my best times in all events I participated in." On the other hand, there was a moment of regret when Chiba mentioned, "I was really disappointed that I finished second in the finals of the 50m freestyle, where I passed the preliminaries in first place."

Chiba started swimming at 7 months old and is currently practicing four times a week at A Club Inagi. Chiba loves swimming. She says that the fun part of swimming is being able to swim together and encourage each other through tough practices.

A promising talent that the coach is looking forward to

Coach Takaya, who guides Chiba, said, "He is an athlete who works harder than anyone else when he decides to give it his all. He shows more power than what the coach expects, so I am always amazed by him." He shared the secret to Chiba's strength. Regarding the future, he expressed his hopes, saying, "As he gets older, the number of events he can participate in will increase, so I want him to challenge himself in various events. I hope he gains diverse experiences and excels at the national competition." Finally, I asked Chiba about his future goals. He said, "Even as I get older and the number of events increases, I want to stand on the podium again. And I want to win a gold medal." Chiba, who talks about his beloved swimming with a smile and seems to enjoy it, leaves a strong impression. We can't take our eyes off his future achievements.