Swimming: Kitajima sets 200-meter breaststroke world record

Tokyo, June 9 (Kyodo) - Japan's Kosuke Kitajima found the best possible answer to his swimwear tests Sunday as the defending Olympic breaststroke champion set a 200-meter world record at the Japan Open. Kitajima, swimming in the Speedo's high-tech LZR Racer for the third straight day, clocked 2 minutes, 7.51 seconds at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center to shave 0.99 off the mark set by American rival Brendan Hansen two years ago. ''I'm glad that I set this world record in a pool that I've been swimming since I was a junior swimmer,'' Kitajima said of his latest achievement -- his first world record since clocking 2:09.42 in his 200 victory at the 2003 world championships in Barcelona. ''It made me feel like crying and boosted my confidence. The only thing I have in mind right now is to win the gold (in Beijing),'' added the 25-year-old, who also bettered the national mark he set in April by 1.33. It was the third breaststroke record Kitajima rewrote in the Speedo swimwear at the Japan Open, a warm-up meet for the Beijing Olympics. He set new 100 and 50 national marks the previous two days. He also became the first Japanese swimmer to set a world record on home soil since Mai Nakamura did so in the women's 50 backstroke in April 2000. His feat brought to 20 the number of long-course world records set this year, 19 of them by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer. Also on Sunday, Japanese Olympic swimmers broke six national records in the LZR Racer, adding to the 10 new marks they renewed over the first two days. Among them, Takuro Fujii went 0.53 faster than the previous mark in the men's 200 individual medley with a time of 1:59.28, while butterfly swimmer Kohei Kawamoto was timed in 51.77 to eclipse the 100-meter mark by 0.09. Junya Koga emerged the only record-setter without wearing the LZR Racer, touching the wall in 25.33 in a men's 50-meter backstroke heat in a Mizuno suit. Other winners included Reiko Nakamura in the women's 50 backstroke, Makoto Ito in the men's 50 freestyle, Natsumi Hoshi in the women's 200 butterfly and Megumi Taneda in the women's 200 breaststroke. As the results of swimwear tests showed Speedo's superiority over domestic suppliers, the Japan Swimming Federation will likely to give the country's swimmers the nod to wear the Speedo outfit at the Beijing Olympics when its board of directors meets on Tuesday.Mizuno Corp., Asics Corp. and Descente Ltd., which are under contract with the JSF, came up with new high-tech products late last month and Japan's national team members were given opportunities to test them as well as the LZR Racer at the Japan Open. - end.