Kitajima: The most successful Olympic breaststroker (Feature)

By Peter Auf der Heyde Aug 14, 2008, 5:57 GMT

Beijing - At an Olympic Games in which American superstar Michael Phelps is grabbing most of the headlines, it is not surprising that other great achievements are in danger of being overshadowed.

One such achievement is Japanese breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima, whose own record at these Olympics is quite exceptional: Two events entered, two gold medals won and one world record broken.

In the process, the 25-year-old has become the most successful breaststroke swimmer in the history of the Olympic Games. He is the first swimmer to repeat the breaststroke double and only the second to win a breaststroke medal at successive games.

The only other swimmers to win more than one gold medal in the breaststroke were Kitajima's team-mate Yoshyuki Tsuruta, Italian Domenico Fioravanti and American John Hencken, all of whom won two gold medals.

Kitajima also has three world championship gold medals.

He said that winning gold at consecutive games had not been a factor in his preparations. 'I was not thinking about winning two gold medals at two consecutive Olympic Games.

'What I wanted to do is show my best performance here in Beijing. If I can achieve that, everything else will come later.'

After Thursday's Olympic record-breaking swim in the final of the 200m breaststroke Kitajima admitted that having earlier won the 100m helped him.

'Winning the 100m was a big factor for today. I felt different after that. If I had not won that race, I would have been anxious. I was more at ease having already won the 100m.

'I was calmer today. I was so calm that I think I could have seen each face in this venue. I enjoyed my race.'

Kitajima, whose only other swim at the Olympics is the 4x100 medley relay, said that he was going to have to depend a lot on his teammates.

'It will be very tough because I am very tired. I am going to tell them I'll take it easy in the semi-final and they have to do their best.'

Like some of the other swimmers Kitajima had mixed feelings about the early start that organizers have introduced to accommodate American television coverage.

After the 200m, which he won in an Olympic record time of two minutes 7.64 seconds, he said: 'I felt good while I was having the race, but my race was the first one of the day. If this event was held later on I had the chance to set a better time.

'I was going to set a new record if the race had been around 11 instead of 10.'

It would have been his second world record in the Beijing Water Cube after he set a 100m world record on Sunday in 58.91 seconds.

In the past, the Tokyo-born swimmer has seen several protests lodged against him for his controversial swimming style that some say is more like a butterfly kick.

The American team complained at the 2004 Olympics, but the judges found there was nothing wrong with the way the Japanese won his races.

The sport's controlling body FINA has subsequently changed the rules and swimmers are now allowed one butterfly-like leg motion at the start and after turning.

With two gold medals around his neck, Kitajima is happy that he does not have to contend with Phelps. 'I am glad that he is not a breaststroke specialist,' he said.

'He's a fabulous swimmer with great technique. He is tough and strong and he has all the elements of a great swimmer. In the breaststroke, I don't want to challenge him. But he's not suited to breaststroke. I think he's more of a freestyle guy.'

Phelps or no Phelps, Kitajima has found his own place in the record books and it is going to take a very special swimmer to displace him.