KOSUKE Kitajima leads a new swimming team that will see action in the International Swimming League. AFP
LAS VEGAS (AFP) — Four-time Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima will head a new Tokyo-based International Swimming League (ISL) team that will join the fledgling series in 2020.
The Tokyo club, which has yet to be named, was unveiled in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the ISL capped its inaugural season with a glitzy finale at the Mandalay Bay event center.
The Japanese outfit and a new club in Toronto will expand the ISL’s number of teams to 10 for the 2020-2021 season.
“I’m very happy to be given this chance to be part of a big opportunity for swimming in general,” said Kitajima, who said he felt a little left out when he wasn’t approached before the start of the first season.
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After watching the two-day final, he said he was impressed not only by the energy of the event but also by the smiles of the swimmers themselves.
“I hope that a lot of Japanese swimmers will be able to participate in this ISL next season,” said Kitajima, who retired in 2016 after a groundbreaking Olympic career that included double breaststroke golds in the 2004 and 2008 Games.
ISL, brainchild of Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin, launched in October with eight teams: Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron and London Roar in Europe and Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current and NY Breakers in the United States.
Daiya Seto became the first Japanese swimmer to test the ISL waters when he made his debut for Energy Standard at Las Vegas, where he roared to a short course world record of 3:54.81 in winning the 400-meter individual medley.
Regardless of where they are based, the teams draw talent from around the globe, with ISL rosters in the first season featuring more than 100 Olympians. That included swimmers who garnered a total of 41 gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
While the ISL is not under the umbrella of swimming’s international governing body FINA and the Olympic movement, Grigorshin said it was fitting to add a Japanese team in 2020 — when the Tokyo Olympics will make the city the focus of world sport.
“The International Swimming League must be a truly global one but our development needs to be sustainable, so we are delighted that we are able to announce that one of our two new clubs for next season will be in Tokyo — the global capital of sport in 2020,” he said in a statement.
