Kitajima breaks world record in Speedo

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima shattered the world 200-metre breaststroke record here Sunday, wearing Speedo's blockbuster LZR Racer swimsuit on a trial basis.

The 25-year-old Japanese clocked 2min 07.51, 0.99 faster than his archrival American Brendan Hansen's two-year-old world mark, at a domestic competition that was a warm-up for Japanese swimmers ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Kitajima, who has a contract to wear the products of Japanese maker Mizuno, was wearing the high-tech British swimwear for the first time in competition throughout the three-day Japan Open contest, which ended Sunday.

Kitajima punched the air from the pool after breaking the record.

"I feel like crying," he said. "I owe the world record to my...