Japanese breaststroke specialist Kosuke Kitajima set a short-course national record in the men's 100-meter for the third time in as many weeks at a World Cup meet Sunday.
Kitajima clocked 58.56 seconds as he came home second to Roman Sludnov of Russia (57.96), breaking his own mark of 58.64 set last week in Stockholm. He began his record-setting streak on the World Cup circuit in Paris on Jan. 18 with a time of 58.76.
"I'm glad I could give out my all at the final World Cup meet in Europe. I'm pleased with the result. I was able to keep myself in good shape and that's the key to my success," said Kitajima, world record holder in the long-course 200 meters.
The 20-year-old also rewrote the Japanese record in the 50 meters (27.31) and 200-meter breaststroke (2:06.32) in Berlin this weekend.
In women's races, Noriko Inada finished second in the 100-meter backstroke in 59.37 and Mai Nakamura took third in 59.41. The event was won by Sarah Price of Britain in 59.08.
Maiko Fujino came second in the 400-meter individual medley in 4:35.85, 1.05 behind winner Jana Klotschkova of Ukraine.