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IRVINE, California, August 19. JAPAN's Kosuke Kitajima cruised in his men's 100 breast victory at the Pan Pacific Championships.
In what looked like an easy swim, Kitajima clocked a 59.35 for the win. That time fell well off his sparkling time of 59.04 clocked during prelims this morning. Kitajima reclaimed the Pan Pac crown he lost to Brendan Hansen in 2006 with his swim tonight. In 2006, Kitajima placed third in 1:00.90, while Hansen won in 59.90. Kitajima previously won the title in 2002 with a 1:00.36. Tonight's win broke a streak of three straight victories for Team USA.
Australia's Christian Sprenger finished second in 1:00.18 to move to fifth in the world, while USA's Mark Gangloff grabbed third overall in 1:00.24. Japan's Ryo Tateishi placed fourth in 1:00.26.
World-record holder Brenton Rickard of Australia, who owns the global standard with a 58.58 from the 2009 World Championships, wound up taking fifth in 1:00.28. USA's Eric Shanteau (1:00.55), Brazil's Tales Cerdeira (1:00.63) and Brazil's Felipe Lima (1:00.90) completed the finale.
USA's Michael Alexandrov nabbed the B final victory with a time of 1:00.58.
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