Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Japan Swim 2010 - Day 2


Kosuke Kitajima (2:12.05) qualified in a surprise fourth place for tomorrow's 200m Breast final. Ryo Tateishi (2:11.09), Naoya Tomita (2:11.60) and Yuuta Suenaga (2:11.81) were all quicker than Japan's greatest ever breaststroker.

Kitajima was fastest after 50m (29.35), 100m (1:02.70) and 150m (1:36.28) before coming home in 35.77. He has already shown he has great speed after his 27.30 yesterday in the 50m Breast, however he has also shown a weakness on the final 50m of his 200m race when he lost out to Eric Shanteau at the Missouri Grand Prix after leading for 150m.

Was Kitajima easing down on the final 50m tonight or is he a little short of endurance in 2010?... My feeling is that he will deliver the first sub 2:09 swim of 2010 tomorrow night.

Did someone say prediction time?
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4 comments:

  1. Speed Endurance14 April 2010 at 16:02

    My prediction = 2:08.75... going out in a blazing quick first 100m, just missing Brendan Hansen's 2:08.50 textile best time.

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  2. David Rieder14 April 2010 at 21:41

    Honestly, I'm not convinced he can go sub-2:09 tomorrow. He doesn't have the back-end fitness after all of that time off, and he has been training with sprint-focused Dave Salo. I'm gonna predict a 2:09.40, just off Brenton Rickard's world-leading time and just a bit faster than he went when he won gold in Athens.

    I think there will be four or five guys under 2:10 by Pan Pacs, and Kitajima will be under 2:09, but I don't think he'll beat Eric Shanteau in the 200 breast this year. (Remember, when he lost to Shanteau in Missouri, Shanteau had just finished up recording the first sub-2:00 200 IM time of 2010!)

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  3. Speed Endurance15 April 2010 at 00:18

    The final tomorrow will go a long way towards showing what kind of shape Kitajima is in this year. I also wonder about his back-end endurance but after Beijing I realised never to bet against him. Ridiculous to predict splits but I could see him going 28.9/1:01.3/1:34.7/2:08.7.

    I still think he wins Pan-Pacs in the 200. Shanteau second, Rickard third. All sub 2:09.

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  4. Speed Endurance15 April 2010 at 16:06

    So much for 28.9/1:01.3/1:34.7/2:08.7.

    Also... so much for the Pan Pacs prediction. Shanteau, Rickard and Tateishi my new top 3.

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