"Self-renewal" is probably the right term to summarize last year for rower Chiaki Tomita.
Last summer, Tomita -- a national team member at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics who competed in the women's lightweight double sculls -- became the first Japanese woman to stand on the podium at the World Rowing Championships. She won silver in the lightweight single sculls, an event that won't be part of the Olympics.
Tomita changed her outlook after failing to gain a berth in her target event of double sculls, and used the setback as a springboard.
Four years ago, Tomita teamed up with Ayami Oishi to finish 12th in her first Olympic appearance in Rio. She then determined to "aim for the podium at the next Tokyo Games as a host nation."
Tomita left the national team in 2017 and 2018 to focus on building physical strength. In March 2019, she won first place in a qualifying trial to choose national members and became the strongest candidate for the Japanese team at the World Championships in August and September, one of the events to decide spots for the lightweight double scull at the Tokyo Games.
In the first event of the World Rowing Cup in May, Tomita paired with Oishi, who took second place in the March trial. However, they performed more poorly than the team composed of the third- and fourth-ranked rowers from the March trial, and the Tomita-Oishi pair was not chosen for the World Championship.
At a later training camp, Tomita lost her place as a national crew member because her explosive spurts in the second half did not mesh well with other rowers.
Tomita was hugely disappointed at the time. She almost came to a standstill, as she could only see her technical shortcomings. But Tomita's training camp roommate Kanako Ueda said to her, "Why not try to be positive, and think about developing your strengths?"
Ueda's words cleared Tomita's mind. She participated in the single scull at the World Championships, and rowed aggressively from the first half, believing, "I'm strong in the second half, so I can do this."
In the second half, she displayed a new style of maintaining her high stroke rate and won the silver medal.
At that World Championships, the Japan team failed to secure a berth at the Tokyo Olympics in the lightweight double scull. Other chances remain, however, including the Asian and Oceanian qualifiers this spring. Trials began in November with a meet held in Tokyo's Arakawa river.
"If I can fully exert my strength, I can make my crew strong no matter who I row with," Tomita said.
Breaking out of her shell, the Japanese ace rower is once again aiming for a place at the Olympics.
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