Kitajima's 100 breaststroke WR

Kitajima is amazing. I had always thought of the 100 breast as being the prototypical power stroke.
But Kitajima doesn't fit the physical profile of the buff, power breaststroker. I love the way that
he starts out smooth, controlled, then builds and builds and just blows everyone away coming home.

Lethal Liesel is no less amazing (amazing meet, just with these two WR 100 breasts), but I also
admire Amanda Beard. I truly thought that she was "finished" when she outgrew her Atlanta body. She
was, for a while, but obviously believed in herself enough to persist and re-invent herself.

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

I really like Kitajima. He never panics or feels the need to go out with the field, and he always
swims a controlled, well-executed race. After watching him, I think he's capable of a 2:08 200
breaststroke.

On TV I just watched the underwater film of Ian Thorpe's qualifying heat in the 200 individual
medley, in which he came in fourth. He came in fourth instead of first solely on the basis of his
terrible breaststroke. He has no glide at all, and he moves his arms in a sort of butterfly stroke
movement rather than streamlining them for a moment or two. I was shocked at how poor his
breaststroke was. Actually, none of the individual medley guys had very good form in the
breaststroke. It goes to show how specialized and technical the stroke
is.

I ran across a recent article at the SwimInfo site about Kitajima's training routine.

swiminfo.com200307 01st art.aspOpen ↗

Swimming Technique July - September 2003 Feature Article

Standing Tall Although short in stature, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima_blessed with extraordinary
technique_is a giant among breaststrokers.

By Ed Odeven

Size doesn't always matter. But let's face it: elite male swimmers, such as Australian Ian Thorpe
and American Michael Phelps, are usually big, strong fellows.

Kosuke Kitajima is an exception to the rule. The skinny, 5-foot-8 3/4-inch Japanese native is a
world-class swimmer who relies more on skill than size.

The 20-year-old from Tokyo had a breakthrough year in 2002, highlighted by a gold medal finish in
the 200 meter breaststroke at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea in October.

:
:

[continued at swiminfo.com200307 01st art.aspOpen ↗ ]

From: [email hidden] (Chris)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On TV I just watched the underwater film of Ian Thorpe's qualifying

heat in the 200 individual medley, in which he came in fourth. He came in fourth instead of first
solely on the basis of his terrible breaststroke. <<

SOLELY on the basis of the breaststroke?

I don't think so.

Phelps:

25.74 fly, 29.64 back, 34.94 breast, 27.20 free

Thorpe:

26.09 fly, 31.06 back, 36.60 breast, 26.67 free

Thorpe lost more time to Phelps on the back (1.7 seconds) than on the breast
(27.67 seconds).

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

O.K. Just realized that my arithmetic was wrong 🙁

The idea is the same, however.

Phelps:

25.74 fly, 29.64 back, 34.94 breast, 27.20 free

Thorpe:

26.09 fly, 31.06 back, 36.60 breast, 26.67 free

Thorpe lost more time to Phelps on the back (1.7 seconds) than on the breast
(27.67 seconds).

CORRECTION: it was 1.42 seconds, compared with 1.67 seconds.

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

[email hidden] (Larry Weisenthal) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Chris)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On TV I just watched the underwater film of Ian Thorpe's qualifying

heat in the 200 individual medley, in which he came in fourth. He came in fourth instead of first
solely on the basis of his terrible breaststroke. <<

SOLELY on the basis of the breaststroke?

I don't think so.

Phelps:

25.74 fly, 29.64 back, 34.94 breast, 27.20 free

Thorpe:

26.09 fly, 31.06 back, 36.60 breast, 26.67 free

Thorpe lost more time to Phelps on the back (1.7 seconds) than on the breast
(1.67 seconds).

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

Thorpe and Phelps weren't in the same qualifying heat so, Larry, exactly what relevance does
comparing Phelps and Thorpes splits from THE SEMIS have to the statement about Ian Thorpe's
qualifying heat in the 200 individual medley?

In the 10th heat Thorpe was second at the 100m mark (.05 seconds off the lead) and was in seventh at
the 150m mark (after a 37.0+ breastroke leg). So I think that original posting outlining that Thorpe
would have won the heat he finished fourth in - if only his breastroke was better - is more or less
irrefutable.

In fact, I would go so far to say, that your posting of the Phelps/Thorpe semi splits to
discuss Thorpes performance in the qualifying heat is the 2nd least useful posting in r.s.s
ever, after this one.

[email hidden] (Larry Weisenthal) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thorpe and Phelps weren't in the same qualifying heat so, Larry,

exactly what relevance does comparing Phelps and Thorpes splits from THE SEMIS have to the
statement about Ian Thorpe's qualifying heat in the 200 individual medley?<<

Sorry, I obviously missed the point of the first posting to which I responded. I thought the
point was to examine how Thorpe compared to the best in the world, not how he compared to the
best in his preliminary heat. Still, I think I didn't do a disservice by pointing out that it's
not just the breaststroke which made the difference between the gold and silver medalist in this
year's WC 200 IM.

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

The information you supplied was indeed informative and my comments were too harsh in tone. The
"anal retentive" part of me temporarily took control of my brain and could not resist the urge
to nitpick.

It will be interesting to see how much effort Thorpe puts into his 200IM training over the next year
... I have the (with absolutely no info) impression that he was swimming this event for "funzies"
and yet he is the national and commonwealth record holder ... notably, the previous record holders,
Matt Dunn and Curtis Myden, were not without their credentials. My guess is that Thorpe will be
emphasizing the freestlye to help the Aussies defend their Olympic relay golds from Sydney.

Considering nobody else is particulary close to the 1:58.00 mark Phelps' time of 1:56.04 borders on
the incomphrehensible.