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Former Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima has urged Japan’s young swimmers to step up after a collective flop at the national championships left him wondering if he needs to postpone his retirement.
The “Frog King” won double breaststroke gold at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympics but at 31, and expecting his first child with his pop star wife, he is getting ever closer to hanging up his goggles.
However, he may have to remain in competition for a while yet after nobody went inside Japan’s 100m and 200m breaststroke selection times for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships and Asian Games.