Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

    BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Asian powerhouse Japan is confident to bag home five medals in the nine-day swimming competition at the Beijing Olympic Games.

    "We have prepared very well and the swimmers are in scintillating form,"said coach Koji Ueno after the team's last training session at the South Korea island of Jeju on Sunday, reported by Japanese media.

    A 31-member Japanese swimming team led by double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima arrived at Beijing last Sunday to test the Olympic competition pool in Water Cube, then led to Jeju for their final preparation on Tuesday.

    In the training camp in Jeju, the swimmers got up at five o' clock and started training at six every day, aiming at tuning up for the morning final session at Beijing Olympics.

    Breaststroker Kitajima showed he was in great shape by surpassing the world record mark in the 100-meter event in Jeju. Less than two month ago, the 25-year-old sensation just shattered the 200-meter world record.

    Teenager Ryosuke Irie, who broke the national record in the men's 200-meter backstroke event, improved his personal best time after time during the recent training.

    Besides, defending champion Ai Shibata, butterfly specialist Yuko Nakanishi and promising backstroker Hanae Ito all kept in good form.