Born in 1979, she started training at the age of 7 in the athletes' course at a swimming school, and won two titles in breaststroke at the Japan Swimming Championships in her first year of high school. In her senior year of high school, she competed in an international meet in Atlanta, and in 2000 (senior year of college), she competed in an international competition in Sydney, where she placed 6th in the 100m and 7th in the 200m individual breaststroke events. In the women's 400m medley relay, she won the bronze medal with Junko Onishi and her juniors in the swimming team, Mai Nakamura and Sumika Minamoto.
After studying and training in the U.S., she competed in an international competition in Athens in 2004, finishing 4th in the 200m breaststroke, and retired from active swimming. Since her retirement, she has been active in the media as a sports commentator, and also lectures as a swimming instructor in various parts of Japan.

Diving, turning over, floating, and so on.
Since I was a child, I loved being in the water because it was fun and pleasant.

When I entered elementary school, I started to learn swimming in an athlete's course.
But rather than aiming high as an athlete, I enjoyed the feeling of being able to beat my personal best, improve my ranking in competitions, and achieve results depending on my own efforts.
So maybe I hated to lose.
But I think I was able to do my best not because of who I lost to, but because of my frustration with myself, such as not being able to meet the goals I set for myself, or giving up when I should have won.

When I graduated from junior high school, the coach at my school suggested that I go to Tokyo to practice in earnest.
My father didn't seem keen on the idea, but my mother, who was a track and field athlete and had competed in the National Athletic Meet, was like, "Why don't you try it as far as you can?"
However, they both said in unison, "You should make the final decision yourself."

I was 15 years old at the time, having never left Hokkaido before, and I went to Tokyo by myself.
I could not make a decision right away.
So I talked to many people about it, and while some expressed concern, I remember that the majority of them supported me.

These voices pushed me to make the decision to go, both for the sake of those who had high expectations of me and for my own sake, as I felt that I did not want to regret not going.
I can only thank my parents and the people around me who respected my choice at this time.

Although I was living away from my parents, I never felt lonely.
In fact, I didn't even have time to feel lonely.
I was in an environment full of Japan's representatives, where having a record was a matter of course, and I was always surrounded by friends with whom I could engage in friendly competition on a daily basis. Such an environment stimulated me, and I was able to practice with my eyes fixed squarely on the road ahead.

And one person I worked hard with at the time was Kyoko Iwasaki, who was already a medalist when I met her and whom I had always admired. I will never forget being able to compete in my first international competition in Atlanta with Kyoko, who was in the same grade as me.
Kyoko and I are still good friends today, and I would like to thank swimming for allowing me to meet a lifelong friend.

After graduating from high school, I joined the Chuo University Swimming Club as a first-generation female student, training daily for the international competitions that were coming up in 2000.
Again, I was supported by my friends.
Junko Onishi, Mai Nakamura, Sumika Minamoto, and I were the only four female members of the club, and we competed together as relay team members. I think we were all inspired by each other as we each worked hard in our own fields.

In swimming, winning and losing are all your responsibility. People who set records put in that much effort, and I think that is genuinely amazing. That is why I thought of my fellow swimmers not as rivals but as comrades-in-arms fighting together.

It is an irreplaceable memory that I was able to win a medal with such members whom I respect each other.
Even though there were times when I wanted to give up, the relationship I had with my friends, with whom I spent hard times together toward the goal of competing in international competitions, is still a great asset to me today.

But while I was able to win a medal in the relay, I wasn't able to achieve the individual results I wanted. That weighed heavily on my mind.
I have a desire to go on to the next international competition, but I don't think I can grow any more.

At that time, I was not facing myself enough.
That is why I wanted to reset myself in a different environment and train myself from the mindset up,
I decided to move to a new environment, the United States.

For the first year, I stayed in California and studied with a coach who was introduced to me by my host family.
After that, I made an appointment with Pete, a coach I had wanted to study with for some time in order to take myself to another level.

There is no doubt that this new environment helped me grow mentally.
However, I could not quite shake off the fear that came from the experience of frustration.

Despite having my personal best, I could not achieve the results I wanted.
I might fail again.
My practice might be in vain.
I could not believe what I was going through.

Every time my time dropped, my heart was filled with fear.
Coach Pete, seeing me like this, said, "Don't look at the time board right after you finish swimming. Ask yourself if you gave 100%. Check the time after that."

I was so relieved.
Looking back, I realized that all I had been thinking about was the time.

I wondered if I had really done the best I could do at the moment.
Did I give 100% of myself today?
I asked myself, "Did I do the best I could do at the moment?"
If not, become the kind of person who can say, "I could have done it."
My coach's words made me realize that it is more important to believe in myself than in my time.

In this way, my anxiety, which had been growing as the next international competition approached, gradually gave way to confidence.

I trained myself after the disappointment of 4 years ago and challenged the race but the result was 4th place.
I was just one step short of reaching the podium.
I was very disappointed.
But I had no regrets. I can proudly say that I gave 100% at that moment.
No matter what anyone said, I believed in myself and did my best.
I was happy to be able to think that way in my last race.

After retiring, I began to receive work in radio and other media-related fields.
When I was assigned as a sports commentator, I was thrilled to learn that there is a professional world outside of swimming, and that there are people who are working hard in it.

I wanted more people to know about these people, and at the same time, I thought that there were things I could communicate because I had spent so much time in the world of sports.

When I retired in 2004, sports news was all about "results".
The number of medals, times, and rankings ...... Of course, those who achieved results put in the effort to achieve them. But even if it didn't lead to a result, there is as much effort as the number of athletes who did their best. There is drama in the areas that are not about winning or losing.

Recently, Japanese athletes have been making a name for themselves around the world in sports such as baseball, soccer, and basketball. I see their successes every day, and I feel that in this day and age, more and more coverage is focusing on the players and their teams, not just the results.

In 2024, a major international competition will be held in Paris. I would like to communicate more and more about such sports, the feelings of the athletes at the starting line, and the stories of the people leading up to the event.


No sport, whether team or individual, can be accomplished by a single person.
It is the connections with friends and the people around us that make us stronger and more oriented.