The gold standard for which Kosuke Hagino has become known was not exactly evident in Thursday's 400-meter individual medley at the national swimming championships, where the Rio Olympic champion was denied a sixth successive title by Daiya Seto.

In his second meet back from right-elbow surgery he had in September, his first in Japan after the operation, Hagino admittedly labored through the heats before succumbing to two-time world champion Seto by a touch -- by 0.01 second -- in the final.

Hagino's time of 4 minutes, 10.45 seconds was more than four seconds off the Japan record he owns. While the mark was a significant improvement from the 4:15.23 he set in his return to competition at last month's Madrid Open, it was the best Hagino could do -- for now.

"I couldn't have gone any harder than I did," Hagino said after his first event at the nationals, which doubles as a qualifier for the world championships in Budapest in July. "If the race wasn't as close as it was, I don't think I could have pushed myself the way I did."

"I was four seconds off my best time. I had a laugh with Daiya after the race because my time wasn't that much different from Madrid."

"There's still plenty of competition left. I like to think of myself as someone who picks it up with time. I'll go out there and give it everything I've got in any given situation."

Hagino dominated the 400 IM in Rio in winning his first Olympic gold medal, even though the elbow he broke just ahead of the previous world championships wasn't fully functional. Seto was a distant third in that race, finishing 3.66 behind Hagino who won in an Asian record of 4:06.05.

Yet while Hagino went under the knife to repair his elbow, Seto put in the work to close the gap with his fellow 22-year-old friend. It paid off on Thursday, when Seto dethroned Hagino to win his first national title and qualify for the worlds.

As annoyed as he was about missing out on a six-peat by a miniscule margin, Hagino sung Seto's praises, saying he swam the best he possibly could on the day.

But with four races to go for Hagino at this meet -- the 200 IM, the 200 and 400 freestyle and the 200 backstroke -- the hope of Japanese swimming for the 2020 Olympics expects to improve each time out.

And by July, Hagino ought to better resemble the form that made him one of the elite swimmers in the world.

"I just lost by one-hundredth of a second so I'd give myself a 55 out of a 100," said Hagino, now a full-time professional swimmer after graduating Toyo University with endorsement deals with Bridgestone and Nike.

"You just have to give Daiya a lot of credit because after Rio, he went to meets like the World Cup to make himself better and it showed tonight. I, on the other hand, couldn't compete as much as I would've liked and that made the difference in the end."

"It definitely stings when you lose by one-hundredth of a second. But I went all out tonight. I left everything out there, which is why I'll be able to build on this -- and coach (Norimasa) Hirai won't jump on me for this."

"I missed the competition. A race like this will switch me on and I'll be able to swim better next time."