Kosuke Kitajima

Japan's Kosuke Kitajima won the gold medal in the Men's 100m breaststroke. Great. Good for him, right? Well, when you consider that he used Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games as part of his training repertoire, you begin to respect his gamer creds. You know, in addition to the fact that he's a tremendous athlete. Yes, Kitajima actually said that it's the prefect mental training for envisioning the Olympic hall. So next time someone rags on you for playing too much Wii, tell them that you...Read Full Story

Two-time double Olympic gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima set a third new national record in three attempts to bring down the curtain on Japan’s short course swimming championships Sunday. The 28-year-old from Tokyo, who set a new national record in winning the men’s 100-metre breaststroke on Saturday, easily won the 50m with a time of 26.68 seconds, ahead of Koichiro Okazaki and Akihide Kawakubo. Kitajima, winner of the 100m and 200m in the Athens and Beijing Olympics, completed his national...Read Full Story

The Japanese Olympic Trials are underway and Kosuke Kitajima’s bid to become the first swimmer to complete the breaststroke sweep in three Olympics is underway. For a country that has been through so much turmoil since the deadly tsunami a little more than a year ago the Olympics are the hope and national patriotism the Japanese people are looking forward to. On night one of the championships Kitajima was in the pool in the semifinals of the 100 breaststroke. Also on tap for the evening were...Read Full Story

The second night of finals brought the best out of the top Japanese swimmers led by four-time gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima. Kitajima set a new top ranked time yesterday during the semifinals and was looking to better that in the finals. National record holder Yuka Kato was also looking to solidify her spot on the Olympic team. The Japanese lady breaststrokers were looking to ride Kitajima’s momentum for themselves and showed some swift times during semifinals. Ryosuke Irie also began his bid...Read Full Story

After posted a 58.90 to win the 100 breaststroke Kosuke Kitajima was back in action in the 200 breast and out to prove he was the man to beat in both distances. He looks to become the first swimmer to complete the “triple double” as he is the two-time defending champion from 2004 and 2008 in both breaststroke events. In the final of the 200 breaststroke he once again made a statement to the rest of the world with a textile best of 2:08.00. That time betters Naoya Tomita 2:08.25 from last year...Read Full Story