Rikako Ikee Goes All In on Sprinting Wins Triple Crown and Secures Five Straight Titles at Japan Swimming Championships

The results of her off-season body transformation

Despite achieving an overwhelming triple crown, the queen’s expression was somehow gloomy.

At the Japan Swimming Championships, which concluded on March 22, Rikako Ikee (25) claimed titles in three events—50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, and 50m freestyle.

“Although she won, she only managed to meet the qualifying standard for the Pan Pacific Championships in August and the Asian Games in Nagoya in September in the 50m butterfly. She herself reflected, saying, ‘It feels like I’m losing mentally,’ and couldn’t fully feel the joy of victory,” said a reporter who covered the event on-site.

In 2024, Ikee announced that her acute lymphocytic leukemia, which she had battled for five years, had gone into complete remission. To regain her former strength, she spent the previous off-season doing underwater training with weights as well as machine-based weight training. On her social media, she showed off her well-defined abs and commented, “I gave everything I had.”

“The 50m butterfly, in which she cleared the qualifying standard, is her specialty as a sprinter and has been newly adopted as an official event for the Los Angeles Olympics. Ikee ranked sixth in the world last year, so she has a strong chance of reaching the podium. She has always been a world-class swimmer in terms of technique, so her times will improve depending on her muscle strength. She doesn’t seem satisfied with this result, but the effects of her physical transformation are gradually appearing,” said sports journalist Yoshimi Oriyama.

With two years to go until her fourth Olympic appearance, Ikee is putting everything into sprint events.

From “FRIDAY”, 2026 issue.