Another Disappointing Swim for Kitajima at Japanese Nationals

By Hideki Mochizuki

TOKYO, Japan, April 22. THE struggles continue for Kosuke Kitajima, as the double-gold medalist from the Athens Olympics finished second in the 50-meter breaststroke on Saturday at the Japanese National Championships. The five-time defending champ, Kitajima was timed in 28.30, off the winning pace of 28.27, produced by Hiromasa Sakimoto.

Neither swimmer met the Standard I time (27.81) set by the Japanese Swimming Federation, consequently leaving both swimmers short of qualifying for next year's World Championships in Melbourne. Earlier in the meet, Kitajima placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke and the former world-record holder in the 100 and 200 breast distances is dangerously close to failing to qualify for this summer's Pan Pacific Championships in Vancouver.

To qualify for Pan Pacs, Kitajima must place in the top three in the 100 breaststroke and meet at least the Standard II time of 1:01.54. Kitajima's effort in the 50 breast was off the standard II mark of 28.04. If Kitajima doesn't elevate his performance, there's a good chance he will be absent from the Melbourne World Champs.

"I don't have much comment tonight. The result is just so bad," Kitajima said. "I now only have one chance."

Duplicating the results of the 400 free, Sachiko Yamada defeated Ai Shibata, the Olympic champ, in the 800 freestyle. Yamada checked in with a time of 8:28.07, easily ahead of the 8:36.74 registered by Shibata. Yamada has qualified for Pan Pacs and the World Champs. The men's 400 free went to Takeshi Matsuda in a solid time of 3:48.08.

In the men's 50 backstroke, Tomomi Morita smashed the Japanese record with a time of 25.39. Morita had earlier set a Japanese record in the 100 backstroke by becoming the first man from his nation to crack the 54-second barrier. On the female side, Mai Nakamura also broke the Japanese record with time of 28.56. She was the silver medalist in the 100 backstroke at the Sydney Olympic Games. Nakamura has been focusing on only the 50 backstroke since last year.

Following the Melbourne World Championships, there appeared to be a lull in major international competition leading into the Beijing Olympics. As a result, Japan is planning on hosting a premier event in September of 2007 in the Tokyo area.

So if I'm reading it correctly he's yet to qualify for the Pan Pac team or the 2007 World team and has to finish top 3 in the 100 to go to either of those events, but a little bird (ok, it was John Lohn) told me that the qualifying time in the 100 shouldn't be a problem for him as it's only 1:01.54 and Kitajima has done a 59. We'll find out soon enough I guess.

Thanks Gmom and Mrs. H for updating us on how Brendan is doing in Italy (in the comments of the previous post. I would never edit you Mrs. H.). I'm sure we could find at least one volunteer who'd be willing to hop a plane to Italy tonight and do some sightseeing with Brendan if he's feeling lonely. It sounds like a good time! And welcome to new poster wollywood. Glad you came out from lurking. Now you have to keep posting.