Ryosuke Irie - 200m Back

Ryosuke Irie of Japan has the best time in the world so far this year for the 200m back - 1:54.74. This is more than a second faster than the 2nd best time, which was 1:55.82 by Ashley Delaney at the Australian Nationals. It is also 3 seconds faster than Ryan's best time this year, which was 1:57.73 at the Missouri Grand Prix.

Irie is shown in the photo next to Ryan in lane 6 after the 200m back in Beijing. Irie finished 5th in the Olympics with a time of 1:55.72. He knocked another second off his time by January 2009 when he swam the 1:54.74. He's the only Olympic finalist who has shown improvement in this event since the Olympics.

Irie is a small guy compared to most swimmers. ESPN lists his height and weight at the Olympics at 5' 9" and 134 lbs. By comparison, Ryan is 6' 2" and 184 lbs. Irie is also really young. His date of birth is January 24, 1990, which means he just turned 19. He could still be growing. He's definitely someone to watch for in Rome.