ATLANTA (AP) — Brendan Hansen and Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima are getting along just fine these days.

Any bad blood from the last two Olympics isn’t a factor now, or so Hansen says.

“There is no conversation because there’s a huge language barrier there,” Hansen said with a smile. “It’s a shame because I feel like we could be really good friends. Maybe I’ll get Rosetta Stone for Japanese, but for right now, it’s very much just a handshake and `good job’ and that kind of stuff.”

Hansen turned in another good job on Saturday night, holding off Kitajima to win the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Winter Nationals.

The 30-year-old Hansen, who also won the 100 breaststroke on Friday night, touched the wall in 2 minutes, 9.64 seconds. Eric Shanteau and Elliot Keefer finished second and third.

Kitajima, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 100 and 200, settled for fourth in 2:12.59, but the Japanese star spent the last couple of days at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in a self-proclaimed training mode. Through a translator, he indicated that competing against the field was second to working on himself.

Hansen, meanwhile, appears to be returning to form after coming out of retirement.

“Tonight, I was like, `I don’t care the outcome and I’m just going to swim my race and my stroke and kind of put the blinders and see what happens.”’ Hansen said. “It was a completely different outcome and feel for the water. Kind of frustrating because I could probably get up and do the 100 now with that mentality and be a lot faster. But that’s why we do the meets now because I don’t want to have that issue in six months (at the London Games).”

France’s Camille Muffat added to her 200 and 400 freestyle titles by finishing first in the 800. She arrived in the U.S. two weeks ago for the first time, training in Florida before arriving in Atlanta.

The weekend was a big success for Muffat, who took bronze in the 200 and 400 at the worlds in Shanghai over four months ago. She was the only swimmer to win three golds.

“I had to compete against Americans in a big meet,” Muffat said. “In France, I’m alone in my races, so I needed to have a goal and motivation.”

Rebecca Soni (200 breaststroke), Missy Franklin (200 backstroke), Jessica Hardy (100 freestyle) and Tyler Clary (200 backstroke) each earned their second titles of the weekend.

Soni’s command of the 100 and 200 breaststroke is impressive. She has the world’s eight fastest times this year in the 100 and seven of the eight fastest in the 200. The Californian, who finished the 200 in 2:21.46, is a clear favorite to win gold in London next summer.

Soni warmed up in the pool a little earlier and longer than usual to help block out self-described nervousness and stress.

“I didn’t want to get too obsessed with whether it feels good or not,” she said. “I wanted to feel my stroke and not hold back at all. It definitely hurt a little bit, which is always does on the last part. You’re not really sure if you’re moving forward or not, but I was really surprised with how fast it was. I’m really happy with that.”

The 16-year-old Franklin was pleased with her performances considering that high school exams in Colorado kept her from arriving in Atlanta until Wednesday. She won the 200 backstroke in by nearly 3 seconds in 2:07.14, about 2 seconds slower than the gold medal finish she had at the worlds this summer.

“My first 50, I tried to stay really strong and have a good feel for the water,” Franklin said. “In my second 50, I knew I had to pick it up. My last 100 is always my favorite part. I just try to get my arms and legs going as fast as I can.”

Franklin hopes to improve her times in the freestyle. She took second in the 100 and 200 this weekend.

“Backstroke is my bread and butter, but from a relay perspective for the national team, I really have to keep my freestyles up just to keep what my teammates need me to do next summer,” she said. “I definitely want to get better.”

After winning the 50 free on Friday, Hardy emerged from a tightly grouped 100. Only nine-tenths of a second separated first and fourth place.
“I don’t think any of us really have the time to look around, but I knew it was going to be a great race,” Hardy said. “Those girls finish really, really strong compared to how fast I go out, so I just put my head down and finished as hard as I could.”

Clary, at 1:56.41, was nearly 2 seconds faster to the wall in the 200 back.

“I was a bit upset with my start, but that’s partly a factor of the blocks and pads because the underwaters always need some work for me,” Clary said. “Other than that, I was very happy with how I split the race. It was an evenly split race. I feel like I swam it smart.”

In other men’s events, France’s Sebastien Rouault won the 1,500 free, Nathan Adrian the 100 free and Sebastien Rousseau the 200 butterfly.

Kathleen Hersey took the women’s 200 fly.

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