Tomoko Hagiwara shows off her gold medal. (Jiji)

The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Yokohama 2002 were held from August 24 to 29 in Yokohama, close to Tokyo. Japanese athletes gave top-rate performances at the meet, which takes place every four years with the participation of swimmers from countries around the world excluding Europe. Japan won a record 14 medals in all - 2 gold, 4 silver, and 8 bronze. All of the Japanese swimmers trained in privately run swim clubs that give classes to children and adults. Japan's strength in the sport appears to stem from the zeal of its people for swim training.

An Unusual Environment
Tomoko Hagiwara, who won the women's 200-meter individual medley, was raised in landlocked Yamanashi Prefecture. She grew up taking swim classes at a club in the city of Kofu and has today become one of Japan's top swimmers. Kosuke Kitajima, the gold medalist in the men's 100-m breaststroke, also started his swimming career at a reputable swim club in Tokyo, to which he still belongs.

As these two individuals exemplify, Japan's swimmers reach the top tier by training continuously at swim schools from childhood. Japanese athletes usually begin their sports as a club activity at school. Swimming is peculiar in Japan in that independent swim clubs are the primary producers of athletes.

A Popular Sport
Swimming is learned and taught very actively in Japan. A large number of people, from infants to elderly people, frequent swim schools across Japan to promote their health. Maternity swim classes for pregnant women are popular, too. One large fitness club chain has approximately 360,000 members, some 100,000 of whom belong to its swimming and exercise classes for children. At top clubs, professional coaches provide instruction, and talented swimmers train under the same coach all the way from elementary school even into college. This long-term relationship is said to be supporting the growth of superior athletes.

Swimming is actively taught not only at independent clubs but at schools as well. Moreover, quite a few districts regularly hold long-distance swims, in which children cover distances of perhaps one or two kilometers in offshore waters. Today this has become an internationally established competitive event known as open-water swimming, but for Japan - a maritime nation - it is a traditional event.

With the introduction of full two-day weekends at public schools this spring, Japanese children now have more time off school than they used to. In a survey asking parents what kinds of lessons they wanted their children to take, swimming was the top choice for boys and the third most popular for girls. These trends seem to suggest that swim training will only become more popular in Japan.