World Championships: No. 1 Seed for 200 Breaststroke Final Goes to Kosuke Kitajima

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 29. IN the absence of world-record holder and defending champion Brendan Hansen, out due to a virus, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima was the top qualifier for the final of the 200 breaststroke. Kitajima pushed Hansen's world record of 2:08.50 for the first 150 meters, splitting under the record pace at all three turns. But, Kitajima fell drastically off the pace in the last lap and touched in 2:10.30.

Still, the former world-record holder posted an impressive time and was easily the No. 1 qualifier. Kitajima was the world champ in the 200 breast in 2003 and will look for his second title tomorrow. He was followed in second by Australia's Brenton Rickard and Italy's Paolo Bossini. Better known for his ability in the 100 breast, Rickard delivered a time of 2:11.41, a mark Bossini duplicated.

"I only heard about (his withdrawal) when I arrived at the stadium this morning," Kitajima said of Hansen. "It is unfortunate, the race is not going to be as exciting as I'd like it to be. But I just want to concentrate on myself and would prefer not to talk about him now."

An Italian was also in the fourth position, as Loris Facci stopped the clock in 2:11.48, just ahead of the 2:11.54 of Eric Shanteau, Hansen's training partner at Longhorn Aquatics. Canada's Mike Brown, the silver medalist in Montreal, was sixth in 2:11.61 and Olympic silver medalist Daniel Gyurta of Hungary was seventh in 2:12.31. The eighth position went to Russia's Grigory Falko (2:12.44).

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

Check back for an updated story on this event as our team of Senior Writer John Lohn and CEO Brent Rutemiller, on the scene at Rod Laver Arena, provide in-depth coverage, along with radio and TV segments.

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