BEIJING - What was especially frustrating for Brendan Hansen about his fourth-place finish in the 100 meter breaststroke Monday was how not surprising it was.

He had been struggling. He felt off.

"I knew that I wasn't at my sharpest. I wasn't at my best," Hansen said afterward. "But you can't think about it. You can't dwell on it. You just have to go after it. And I went for it."

But his best just eluded him.

As has been the case all year, this Texas ex has watched swimmers he used to beat finish ahead of him. Included in that was his longtime rival Kosuke Kitajima who won gold Monday, in 58.91, or good enough to break what had been Hansen's world record.

In his typical fashion, Hansen handled his heartbreaking defeat with class. He quickly ducked under a couple of lane lines and pulled his nemesis in for a man hug and a quick congrats.

"I kept it in broken English so he could understand it," Hansen said. "I just said 'Congratulations, man, that's an awesome swim'. And I know that if I had done that in front of him he would have done the exact same thing. You got to take your hat off when somebody goes 58.9 in the Olympic final."

Kitajima has long been his Joker, his Newman, the guy he absolutely can not stand losing to. Four years ago in Athens, he stunned Hansen by winning gold in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke while Hansen had to settle for a silver and a bronze.

Then Kitajima took his world record in the 200, a race Hansen had called "my baby." His whole focus had been on reclaiming that record in Beijing until the unthinkable happened and he failed to qualify at trials. He finished fourth in Omaha, thereby leaving the 100 as his only chance for an individual medal.

And we saw how that ended.

"It's been like that all year," Hansen said. "It's just been a really tough year for me. Obviously, losing the 200 breaststroke at trials effects your confidence a little bit."

Failing to medal at the Olympics certainly would be an awful way to end what has been a good swimming run, especially not swimming his best.

"Like I was telling reporters over there," Hansen said, "it's not the last time you will see me."