Kosuke Kitajima sets his third record at Japan Short Course Nationals - Swimming update
The 28-year-old, Olympic Champion, Kosuke Kitajima improved on the record for the 200 m breast-stroke in the Japan Short Course Nationals held in Tokyo yesterday.
This was the third record improvement in this championship by Kitajima. On the first day of the tournament, he improved the record for the 100 m breast-stroke in a time of 57.34. Then on the first session of day two, he lowered the record for the 50 m breast-stroke
in a time of 26.68. And then later on the same day, he finished the 200 m breast-stroke in a record breaking time of 2:02.95. The previous record was set by Naoya Tomita at 2:03.12 during the World Short Course Championships last December.
After Kitajima’s 200 m breast-stroke heat in the morning, he claimed the final to be a world class event. After his defeat, Tomita said, "When I touched second behind Kosuke-san, I thought there would be no gold medal for me at this summer's world championships."
Though the previous record holder was known for his strength in long distance breast-stroke events, he finished behind Kitajima at a distant timing of 2:04.27.
Tomita said that he is more competitive at a short length pool but his defeat in this championship by Kitajima makes him wonder whether he stands a chance against Kitajima in a 50 m pool. Kitajima had been stressing his concerns about the 200 m breast-stroke
race since the beginning of the championship.
He took a break after 2008 Beijing Olympics. He said I knew that everyone would be preparing for the nationals and he wanted to know that if he could perform with the emerging Japanese swimmers.
The Japan Nationals Championships from 5th to 10th April will finalise the Japanese Squad for the 2011 Shanghai World Championships. Moreover, the gold medalists in individual races will be ensured their places in the Japanese squad
for the 2012 London Olympics.
The previous record holder for 100 m breast-stroke, Yuta Suenaga, announced his retirement from competitive swimming yesterday. He finished second in the 100 m breast-stroke on Saturday and third in the 200 m breast-stroke on Sunday.
On hearing about Suenaga's retirement, Kitajima said, "Is he really retiring? But if so, I respect his decision. I was thankful that he was trying to catch up with me for years. It was good to go to the Beijing Olympics together. I hoped I could try to make
another Olympics with him."
Suenaga also said that he is not aiming for 2012 London and he is very delighted to compete with Kitajima in the last race of his swimming career. Suenaga was unable to make it to the finals of 100 m and 200 m breast-stroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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