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Yayoi MATSUMOTO
Sport Swimming
NOC Japan   
GenderWomen
Born08 Mar 1990 in Numazu, JPN
Height1.68 m
 Human Interest 
Further Personal Information
Higher education
 Physical Education - Nippon Sport Science University: Tokyo, JPN
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport?
 She was given the choice of studying English or learning how to swim by her mother. She also played basketball at middle school, but decided to focus on swimming in grade nine after she was selected to compete at the National Sports Festival of Japan.
When and where did you begin this sport?
 She began swimming at age five.
Further Personal Information
Languages
 Japanese
General Interest
Hero / Idol
 Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee. (Instagram profile, 03 Dec 2018)
Further Personal Information
Occupation
 Athlete
General Interest
Awards and honours
 In 2017 she received the Shizuoka Prefecture Special Citation Award in Japan. (Twitter profile, 30 Jul 2017)
Sporting philosophy / motto
 "Life is also freestyle." (Instagram profile, 06 Feb 2022)
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team
 XFLAG: Japan
General Interest
Most influential person in career
 Coach Yoshihiro Fujimori. (Instagram profile, 03 Dec 2018)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach
 Fumiya Murakami [personal], JPN, from 2018
International Debut
Year
 2009
Competing for
 Japan
General Interest
Other information
 BREAK AND RETURN
She took a break from the sport after competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In December 2018 she returned to training. "After the [2016] Rio Olympics, I thought I didn't want to swim for the rest of my life, but there were so many things left and I thought about coming back in 2018. When I was watching the 2018 Asian Games [in Indonesia] and the 2017 World Championships [in Budapest, Hungary] and I wasn't there, I started thinking, 'I think it's fun, I wish I were there'. Looking at everyone's results, I was confident while thinking, 'I could have achieved this time'." (victorysportsnews.com, 06 Apr 2021; Twitter profile, 03 Dec 2018; tecotec.co.jp, 03 Dec 2018; Instagram profile, 03 Dec 2018)

 Competition Highlights
Olympic Games
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 50m Freestyle 25.73
8 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:37.78
Heats 2012 London, ENG 50m Freestyle 25.73
7 2012 London, ENG 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:37.96
8 2012 London, ENG 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:56.73
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2015 Kazan, RUS 100m Freestyle 55.71
Heats 2015 Kazan, RUS 50m Freestyle 25.90
Heats 2015 Kazan, RUS 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:38.47
Heats 2013 Barcelona, ESP 50m Freestyle 25.69
7 2013 Barcelona, ESP 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:39.45
Heat 2011 Shanghai, CHN 50m Freestyle 25.34
5 2011 Shanghai, CHN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:57.84
Heat 2011 Shanghai, CHN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay  
7 2011 Shanghai, CHN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:39.55
Heat 2009 Rome, ITA 100m Freestyle 56.20
Heat 2009 Rome, ITA 50m Freestyle 26.36
Heat 2009 Rome, ITA 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
World Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2014 Doha, QAT 50m Freestyle  DSQ
8 2014 Doha, QAT 4 x 50m Medley Relay 1:46.72
Heats 2014 Doha, QAT 4 x 50m Medley Relay 1:41.78
6 2014 Doha, QAT 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:42.65
6 2014 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:32.31
7 2014 Doha, QAT 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay 1:38.76
World Cup Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
5 2014 Singapore, SGP 200m Freestyle 1:58.83
8 2014 Singapore, SGP 50m Freestyle 25.28
5 2014 Singapore, SGP 100m Freestyle 53.79
1 2014 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 50m Medley Relay 1:40.51
1 2014 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay 1:33.28
Asian Games
Rank Year Venue Event Result
6 2014 Incheon, KOR 50m Freestyle 25.72
5 2014 Incheon, KOR 100m Freestyle 55.97
2 2014 Incheon, KOR 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:58.43
2 2014 Incheon, KOR 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:39.35
3 2010 Guangzhou, CHN 50m Freestyle 25.67
5 2010 Guangzhou, CHN 100m Freestyle 55.78
2 2010 Guangzhou, CHN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:55.92
2 2010 Guangzhou, CHN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:37.90