Kitajima fails to qualify for 200m Breast

Kosuke Kitajima suffered a shock defeat while Ai Shibata cruised to her first national title as the Olympic champions had mixed fortunes on the opening day of the national swimming championships Thursday.

Kitajima, who won a breaststroke double in Athens last summer, finished third in the men's 200 meters behind Genki Imamura and Daisuke Kimura, and failed to win a place for the discipline in the world championships to be held in Montreal in July.

Imamura, who trailed Kitajima by 0.07 second at the halfway mark, touched the wall at Yokohama International Swimming Pool in 2 minutes, 11.70 seconds. Kimura overtook Kitajima down the final stretch to finish runner-up in 2:13.02, 0.24 second ahead of Kitajima.

Imamura and Kimura met the qualifying standard set by the Japan Swimming Federation and secured spots in the world championships.

"People say no one can beat Kitajima in Japan and it has frustrated me a lot," Imamura said. "Kosuke had more strokes than usual in his qualifying heat and I thought it wasn't his usual race and the chance has come to me."

"I believed that I'd be able to beat him if the race came down to a duel in the final 100 meters, and I thought I could make it the moment I made the halfway turn," said Imamura, who became the first Japanese to beat Kitajima in five years.

Kitajima did not hide his disappointment and said he will make a fresh start for the 50 and 100 meters to be contested later in the championships.

"I screwed it and I'm disappointed," Kitajima said. "I didn't have the strength to keep the momentum throughout the 200 meters. I have more races left and I'm ready to make a switch for better results."

Freestyle swimmer Shibata, gold medalist in Athens in the women's 800 meters, ended the six-year reign of Sachiko Yamada in the 400 as she held off her Olympic team rival by more than 3 seconds to claim her first national crown in 4:07.93.

Yamada, who holds the national record of 4:07.23, finished second in 4:11.37.

"You can't be satisfied with just the Olympic gold and I swam as if I were a challenger," Shibata said. "I'm disappointed that I was unable to break the national record, but I got a confidence boost with my first victory swimming alongside Yamada."

Shibata qualified for the world championships along with Maiko Fujino, who won the women's 400-meter individual medley in 4:41.96 for her first national title in two years and second overall.

In other races, Daisuke Hosokawa took the men's 100-meter freestyle in 50.47 and Megumi Taneda emerged victorious in the women's 200-meter breaststroke in 2:28.62.

Additional Links:

Kitajima Upset at Japanese Trials, Finishes Third
No Kitajima in 200 at world c'ships