Kosuke Kitajima

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Kosuke Kitajima (北島 康介, Kitajima Kōsuke^?, born September 22, 1982 in Tokyo) is a Japanese breaststroke swimmer. He has a height of 177 centimeters and a weight of 71 kilograms. He won gold medals for the Men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

There is a controversy about Kitajima's swimming style. On his breaststroke pull-out at every start and turn, some say that he moves his legs making a butterfly stroke-like movement, which was forbidden at the time of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Protests have been officially logged against him for this (as done by the United States' swimming delegation at the 2004 Olympic Games), but he has never been disqualified from an important competition for this. Perhaps due to the controversial incident at 2004 Olympics, FINA has changed the rule of breaststroke to allow one butterfly-like leg motion after the start and each turn since the 2005 World Championships.

His most significant rival on the breaststroke is the American swimmer Brendan Hansen. They dueled out at events such as the 2005 World Championships, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2003 World Championships. Kitajima set both world records for 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in the latter occasion. Later his best in 200 m was overcome by Dimitri Komornikov and then by Hansen, who holds it with 2:08.50, along with a new world record in the 100 m.

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Kitajima generated buzz for his primal screams of exuberance after edging out Hansen in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke for the gold. At a pool side interview (3'24") following his victory in the 100m, Kousuke Kitajima also popularised the phrase 'cho-kimochi-ii,' meaning "I feel mega good." The word went on to win the 2004 U-Can Neoligisms and Vogue Words contest.^[5]

[edit] Major achievements

• Gold Medal
  • 100 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
  • 200 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
  • 100 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
  • 200 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
  • 200 m breaststroke – 2007 World Championships (long course) in Melbourne, Australia.
• Silver Medal
  • 100 m breaststroke – 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships (short course) in Moscow, Russia.
  • 100 m breaststroke – 2007 World Championships (long course) in Melbourne, Australia.
• Bronze Medal
  • 100 m breaststroke – 2001 World Championships (long course) in Fukuoka, Japan.
  • 4×100 m Medley – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
  • 4×100 m Medley – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

[edit] Personal bests

In long course swim pools Kitajima's bests are:

• 100 m breaststroke: 59.53
• 200 m breaststroke: 2:09.42

[edit] References

• KITAJIMA, Kosuke International Who's Who. accessed September 4, 2006.

1. ^ 2004 Olympic Games swimming results. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
2. ^ Montreal 2005 Results. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
3. ^ 12th FINA World Championships. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
4. ^ 2002 World Championships - Short Course Swim Rankings results. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
5. ^ 2004 Annual Grand Prix. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.

Categories: Swimming biography stubs | 1982 births | Living people | Olympic swimmers of Japan | Olympic gold medalists for Japan | Olympic bronze medalists for Japan | Breaststroke swimmers | Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics