Kitajima World Record

It's a pity if his message gets misinterpreted by non-Japanese speakers and offends other swimmers and their fans/supporters. According to the following on-line newspaper article (in Japanese, sorry): www.tokyo-np.co.jp/.../CK2008060702000093.html the t-shirt says that the Japanese sentence reads "I'm the one that swims" (of course that's my traslation into English) and the article quotes what Kitajima said in his interview after the race: "It's not the swimsuit that swims. I want people to instead turn their attention to us athletes who are training hard and trying to do the best we can." So I believe what he is saying is that he is sick of all the fuss about swimsuits that's on newspapers and TV news in the past month here in Japan, and sick of the Japanese media interested only in the issues with Japanese Swimming Federation's decisions and the swimsuit manufacturers, and not much in the athletes's efforts or their performaces. I think the English and the Chinese sentences are supposed to be the translations of the same message into respective languages but obviously he (or who knows who did those translations for him) didn't do a great job with it, as "I'm the swimmer" sounds more like Kitajima is either being arrogant, conceited or provocative towards his rivals by claiming that he is the number one swimmer. I understand this could potentially be interpreted out of context and offend Hansen and other top contenders, which would be unfortunate. After the 200m breaststroke final at Japan Open I watched his interview where he said that he'd been behind Hansen after the last Olympics so this new WR doesn't change his stance towards the Beijing Olympics as being the one who challenges the champion, not the one who is challenged. So I think Kitajima pays a lot of respect towards Hansen. Sorry if I sound overly defensive for Kitajima, just my two cents.

Story of my life.:whiteflag: Hahaha. You've been cranky ever since the Kevin Doak thing. Don't worry, you're smart. And that ball cancer remark was hilarious! Look, Kitajima intended to cheat and knew the officials would have trouble catching him cheat. Not a great approach to sport. I don't think the steroid analogy is all that far off. But they didn't, so it's clear that underwater video is needed for properly officiating evilstroke. Just another reason why it sucks. I've seen officials blow the double dolphin evilstroke call at masters meets too. Not a popular DQ, apparently. But does that mean I should work on sneaking as many dolphin kicks in as I can since I suck at evilstroke? No.

Not whining...just stating the facts as we all know them......

And by that way of thinking Sam....steroids are not cheating unless you get caught? Cheating is still cheating whether you get caught or not! This is a weak comparison. If the judges had seen steroid tests positive and not said anything then it would be the same. This is what they did with Kitajima, so they are the ones at fault. He won (maybe not fair and square) but he won, the judges allowed it. The only way my opinion would change that he "cheated" is if he paid them off not to disqualify him. Then he and the judges are guilty. I don't care if he did it of one wall or 50 walls, the judges were the ones who let him get away with it, therefore he won.

Ball cancer - cold, yet funny. Yes cold, but my bluntless is what it is. Gets me in trouble way too much.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.....My opinion is you're cheating whether you get caught or not....that is one of those races that should have an asterisk next to it if there ever was one.......video proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he did it.....

There's nothing factual about human judgment in sports competition, that's the only fact. Now move on, it was 4 years ago. Geek, would you like me to send you the videos? I'll even put them in slo mo so even you can see it? And since when is stating an opinion based on fact whining?

I agree with that stacky. It's very accurate of what he was trying convey. But Kitajima's etiquette in sportsmanship has shown to be really low on the scale of 1 to 10 more than once. After touching out Hansen (using the illegal dolphin)...he proceeded to beat his chest and pound his fists, and made no real acknowledgment to the guy (Hansen) in the adjacent lane. Sure stuff like this happens all the time. But it doesn't sit well with many swimming fans. When Cesar went a 40 point for the 100 free this year (at NCAA's)..his perch on the lane line, as if it were the victory podium, was sort of in bad taste. Many coaches I know said the same thing even though it was a ground breaking swim. Humility is a great quality. Accomplished swimmers (of all ages) let their performances do all the talking. And they congratulate their competition. That said, I hope Hansen kicks his butt.

At that particular meet there was a lot of noise about the stealthy kick, but that was the end of it. "You can't appeal a judgment call," U.S. men's coach Eddie Reese said. "The race is over. No whistle, no foul." Would he ever go for 2 kicks? That's already been done in FINA competition. Lane 2 makes it pretty obvious... video.google.com/videoplay

This is a weak comparison. If the judges had seen steroid tests positive and not said anything then it would be the same. This is what they did with Kitajima, so they are the ones at fault. He won (maybe not fair and square) but he won, the judges allowed it. The only way my opinion would change that he "cheated" is if he paid them off not to disqualify him. Then he and the judges are guilty. I don't care if he did it of one wall or 50 walls, the judges were the ones who let him get away with it, therefore he won. Sam, from the perspective of a sometimes official I would disagree with you here too.....In breaststroke it is actually easier to see a dolphin kick from a little off to the side....looking straight down at the legs it is harder to see since the body naturally undulates during the pull. And as an official, if I "think" I see something I should not call it.....I should only call what I "know" I have seen. Just my perspective again. But watching the video....I think that official should have been taken out to the wood shed for missing that one!