Favorite Kitajima no stranger to controversy

By Julian Linden

SYDNEY (Reuters) - If it wasn't for Michael Phelps, Japanese breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima could have been the headline act heading into the swimming at the Beijing Olympics.

He is already the most decorated Asian swimmer of all time and will be rated one of the continent's greatest Olympians if he repeats his Athens success next month.

Kitajima won the men's 100 and 200 meters breaststroke double in Athens in 2004 and everything seems to be falling into place for him at the right time ahead of the Beijing Games.

He is the overwhelming favorite to win the 200 after reclaiming the world record last month. His great American rival Brendan Hansen failed to qualify for the event by finishing fourth at the U.S. trials.

Kitajima is also a leading contender in the 100 with Hansen looming as his biggest danger after safely qualifying for the shorter distance.

The American holds the world record for the 100 and beat Kitajima to win gold at both the 2005 and 2007 world championships.

The 25-year-old from Tokyo has had his fair share of run-ins with officials and been accused by his rivals of breaking the rules by using an illegal dolphin kick at each of his turns.

He has never been disqualified but the United States lodged a protest after his victory at Athens.

Kitajima survived the protest but the Americans claimed a moral victory when the sport's world governing body FINA abruptly changed the rule a year later allowing swimmers legally to make one underwater kick after each turn.

BODYSUIT SPAT

Kitajima also had a spat with Japanese swimming officials and sponsors over whether he could wear a new Speedo bodysuit.

Kitajima won the dispute after breaking the 200 world record in the new suit but not before an ugly standoff.

Despite his clashes with officialdom and opponents, Kitajima remains as popular as ever in his native Japan.

He came to international prominence when he finished fourth in the 100 at the Sydney Olympics as a 17-year-old. He was fourth again in the 100 at the 2001 world championships in Fukuoka and collected his first major medal when finishing third in the 200.

In 2002, he broke the 200 world record at the Asian Games in Busan, eclipsing the 10-year-old mark of American Mike Barrowman, to become the first Asian man to hold a swimming world record since Nobutaka Taguchi held the 100 breaststroke record in 1972.