Kimura Takes Crown Olympic champion beaten into fourth place as four men clock 2:12 over 200m breaststroke at Japanese nationals in Tokyo

2006-04-20 19:26:20 Beaten by Genki Imamura last year, Kitajima led the race all the way until the final 50 metres but was unable to hold off a strong challenge from the three men who had sat tight to his shoulder throughout the four laps. The crown went to Daisuke Kimura, in 2:12.54, just 0.03sec ahead of defending champion Imamura, with Yuuta Suenaga third just 0.01sec further back. Kitajima was locked out of the medals, on 2:12.76. Behind him, the depth in Japanese 200-metre breaststroke swimming is impressive: fifth was Kouichirou Okazaki on 2:13.10, followed by Yuuki Satou on 2:14.04, Yuuichi Narisawa on 2:14.46 and Harumichi Takita on 2:14.52. After them, six men in the B final, including three teenagers, raced inside 2min 16sec. In other finals, Ryo Takayasu broke his national record twice over 50 metres butterfly. In the morning heats he clocked 23.94sec, inside the 24.07 standard that had stood to Kohei Kawamoto since June 2002. He later shaved a further 0.03sec off his best to take the title in 23.91, pressed all the way by Takuya Kitamoto, second on 24.04. In the women's 400m freestyle, Sachiko Yamada was the comfortable victor, in 4:09.63, ahead of Olympic 800m champion Ai Shibata, on 4:12.37. Maiko Fujino took the 400m medley in 4:45.86, ahead of 15-year-old Izumi Katou, second on 4:47.90, while back in sixth on 4:52.43 was 14-year-old Fumika Kayou.