Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Japan’s top swimmer Yasunari Hirai and his Australian coach Colin Braund certainly hope not.

Hirai, Japan’s lone male Olympic marathon swimmer, will be trying for his fourth national title at the 2015 Japan Open Water Swimming Championships (オープンウォータースイミング ジャパンオープン館山) along the Tateyama Hojo Coast in Chiba Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

With Mount Fuji looming large in the background, Hirai similarly looms large over the Japanese open water swimming community. Hirai just missed out at qualifying for the 2016 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2015 FINA World Championships when he finished 11th – just 5 seconds from qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

But Hirai and the rest of the world will have an opportunity to qualify for the final 15 spots for the 2016 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Setúbal Bay, Portugal at the second and final qualification race.

Hirai first must defend his national title in Japan (he will be competing for his fourth national title). So he wants no surprises – and we expect none in the flat, warm waters off the coast of Tateyama.

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association