TOKYO, Japan, June 8. DURING the final day of action at the Japan Open, Kosuke Kitajima delivered a strong message to the globe via a world record in the 200 breast, he's ready to defend his Olympic gold medals.
After wearing a T-shirt stating "I am the swimmer," in protest of the Japanese Swimming Federation's contract that reduces national team members to just three brands of suits at the Olympics, Kitajima made his most emphatic response in the water with the world record when he donned a LZR Racer en route to a time of 2:07.51.
That swim smashed the two-year-old standard of 2:08.50 set by Brendan Hansen at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships held in Victoria, Canada. Incidentally, Kitajima also broke his national record of 2:08.84 set in April.
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Here are the comparative splits:
Kitajima: 28.91, 1:01.27 (32.36), 1:34.24 (32.97), 2:07.51 (33.27)
Hansen: 29.10, 1:02.26 (33.16), 1:35.12 (32.86), 2:08.50 (33.38)
World-record progressions
Courtesy of USA Swimming
2:37.4 Knud Gleie DAN Copenhagen 3/14/1952
2:36.6 Masaru Furukawa JPN Tokyo 4/10/1954
2:35.4 Masaru Furukawa JPN Tokyo 4/10/1954
2:35.2 Mamoru Tanaka JPN Tokyo 9/17/1954
2:33.7 Masaru Furukawa JPN Tokyo 8/5/1955
2:31.0 Masaru Furukawa JPN Tokyo 10/1/1955
2:36.5y^ Terence Gathercole AUS Townsville 6/28/1958
2:33.6 Chester Jastremski USA Tokyo 7/28/1961
2:29.6 Chester Jastremski USA Los Angeles 8/19/1961
2:28.2 Chester Jastremski USA New York 8/30/1964
2:27.8 AUS Tokyo 10/15/1964
2:27.4 Vladimir Kosinsky URS Kaley 4/3/1968
2:26.5 Nicolai Pankin URS Minsk 3/22/1969
2:25.4 Nicolai Pankin URS Magdeburg 4/19/1969
2:23.5 Brian Job USA Los Angeles 8/22/1970
2:22.79 John Hencken USA Chicago 8/5/1972
2:21.55 John Hencken USA Munich 9/2/1972
2:20.52 John Hencken USA Louisville 8/24/1973
2:19.28 David Wilkie GBR Belgrade 9/6/1973
2:18.93 John Hencken USA Concord 8/24/1974
2:18.21 John Hencken USA Concord 9/1/1974
2:15.11 David Wilkie GBR Montreal 7/24/1976
2:14.77 Victor Davis CAN Guayaquil 8/5/1982
2:14.58 Victor Davis CAN Etobicoke 6/17/1984
2:13.34 Victor Davis CAN Los Angeles 8/2/1984
2:12.90 Mike Barrowman USA Los Angeles 8/4/1989
2:12.90 Nick Gillingham GBR Bonn 8/19/1989
2:12.89p Mike Barrowman USA Tokyo 8/20/1989
2:11.53 Mike Barrowman USA Seattle 7/20/1990
2:11.23 Mike Barrowman USA Perth 1/11/1991
2:10.60 Mike Barrowman USA Ft.
Lauderdale
8/13/1991
2:10.16 Mike Barrowman USA Barcelona 7/29/1992
2:09.97 Kosuke Kitajima JPN Busan, KOR 10/2/2002
2:09.52 Dimitri Komornikov RUS Barcelona 6/15/2003
2:09.42 Kosuke Kitajima JPN Barcelona 7/24/2003
2:09.04 Brendan Hansen USA Long Beach 7/11/2004
2:08.74 Brendan Hansen USA Irvine 8/5/2006
2:08.50 Brendan Hansen USA Victoria 8/20/2006
2:07.51 Kosuke Kitajima JPN Tokyo 6/8/2008
Several other records fell at the meet. Takurou Rujii posted a time of 1:59.28 in the men's 200 IM to surpass the 1:59.81 set by Ken Takakuwa in 2006. Shiho Sakai and Reiko Nakamura tied for the women's 50 back title in national record times of 28.25. The efforts eclipsed Nakamura's national standard of 28.36 set in 2007. The men's 50 back standard also fell with Junichi Miyashita touching in 25.26. That performance wiped out the 25.39 that Junya Koga and Tomomi Morita shared from matching times set in 2006. Kouhei Kawamoto also downed the men's 100 fly record with a 51.77. That beat Masayuki Kishida's 51.83 from April.
In other action, Natsumi Hoshi broke the national high school record with a winning time of 2:07.04 in the women's 200 fly. Izumi Katou won the women's 200 IM (2:14.72), An Yumoto won the women's 50 free (25.68), Makoto Itou took the men's 50 free (22.95) and Megumi Taneda claimed the women's 200 breast (2:23.96).
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Reaction Time Comments
June 8, 2008 wow 2:07.5 in the 200 breast before the olympics, i can't imagine what he is going to do at the olympics. that is just insane Submitted by: WUswimmer
June 8, 2008 I know, huh? Talk about throwing down the gauntlet for Hansen and the others. And what a statement for Speedo. Kitajima may be the swimmer, but LZR is the suit! Although I'm not a fan of the new suits, I'm glad he got a chance to wear one like he wanted to, because I think everybody should have access to all suits to have an even playing field. Submitted by: liquidassets
June 8, 2008 I. Love. It.
GO KITAJIMA!!! Submitted by: Hodori88
June 8, 2008 2:06 anyone???? My crystal ball says 2:06. Submitted by: paddles
June 9, 2008 I'm thinking kitajima will pull out a 2:06.7 or so. Do we know what is going on with daniel gyurta? you all remember him in 2004 coming out of almost nowhere? Submitted by: WUswimmer
June 9, 2008 Gyurta struggled since then but I think he finally got down to 2:11 within the last year Submitted by: liquidassets
June 9, 2008 nevermind i found it. he went 2:11.1 at the junior european championships last summer. He will be a dark horse to look at in the olympics Submitted by: WUswimmer
June 9, 2008 actually doing more research. Daniel gyurta went a 2:10.71 in the finals of the junior euro championships, which was his best time since the 2004 olympics. He said back in 2004 after getting silver that he wanted to get the gold in 2008, so im going to be watching for this guy Submitted by: WUswimmer
June 10, 2008 I don't even have words for how far off base it is to think Kitajima is going 2:06 in Beijing. The guy goes more than a second faster than he ever has before and you have him dropping another .8 in two months? With the pressure of morning finals and a target on his chest? I just don't see it. Submitted by: laurenish
June 10, 2008 Now watch Hansen go 2:06 low to win gold. Kitajima second 2:07-low, Rickard third. Submitted by: SwimDER94
June 10, 2008 Laurenish, normally I'd agree with you, but you're forgetting about the suits. While I still think it's unlikely I don't think it's that far off base. He dropped to 2:07 wearing a LZR since they seem to translate to about .5 per 50. Add in a taper and confidence from breaking the record and it's not outside the realm of possibility. That said, depending on Hansen's condition (he seems like a question mark right now given his recent 2:13) and taper, he could also go 2:06 too, which in my mind is what the old "2:08" would be now. Submitted by: liquidassets
June 10, 2008 I don't see Hansen as a question mark at all. At Santa Clara three weeks ago he went 2:10.62 and 1:00.01 easily. I agree that he has the stuff to knock that record down again. 2:06 is crazy but we have seen him do some crazy things before (2:08 a few times). When he is uninjured, my money is on him.
Regarding the suit. Do you really think a jammer/legging has that much of an impact? I believe that Kitajima was wearing the leggings. The suit that Speedo is saying causes such a dramatic drop is a bodysuit. The reason for that is the corset which the athletes who have raced in it say it seems to provide core stabilization aiding in good body positioning, and excellent compression holding off fatigue. Jammers/leggings would only seem to do half of the things that a body suit would do.
At the Janet Evan meet the top breaststrokers were wearing the TYR Tracer Rise body suit. The construction of that suit seems more suitable for the kick of a breaststroker than the construction on the LZR for the same race.
But I still have to question the restriction of shoulder movement for this stroke. Submitted by: laurenish
June 10, 2008 Don't forget Hansen went 2:10 unrested and unshaved just two short weeks ago. Submitted by: Michelle
June 10, 2008 Personally, even with the fun that comes with "what could be" scenarios, as a fan, I want to get Kitajima, Hansen and Gyurta in the Beijing final and let them race. What a rare treat to have the three medalists having at each other again as the favorites four years later WITHOUT the controversy of the "illegal" (then) underwater kick off the start and turns. Submitted by: paddles
June 10, 2008 Paddles, although he's in the mix for a medal, not sure Gyurta would be considered a favorite anymore on the same level as Hansen as as his 2:10 was last year and there have been several 2:09's since then. As for the suit, h,mmm..maybe a jammer would have half the impact since it covers roughly half the body in the kick-intensive breaststroke. What I'm not sure about it what Hansen has been wearing in the various races. But I still think he's somewhat of a question mark as he's been beaten by his own teammates sevreal times recently now, who are presumably on a similar training cycle, and he's been either sick or psyched out at big meets before. Submitted by: liquidassets
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