BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A Hungarian coach said Daniel Gyurta, one of his team's trump swimmers, was "in a good form" to challenge Japanese star Kosuke Kitajima who just set a new world record in the men's 200m breaststroke two months ahead of the Olympic Games.

"The Hungarian swimming team hopes to grab three medals at the incoming Beijing Olympics, among which, Daniel Gyurta has the best shot," coach Fehervar Balazs told Xinhua Thursday during his team's first training session at China's National Aquatics Center, better known as Water Cube.

The breaststroker won the 200m race in a European Junior Championship with a new Hungarian record of 2.10.71 a year ago. He also finished second in the Swimming China Open, a rehearsal for the sports gala this February.

The 18-year-old landed his sudden arrival on the international scene when he won a silver medal in the men's 200m breaststroke in 2:10.80 at the Athens Olympic Games four years ago.

Kitajima, Gyurta's biggest rival, created a new world record by finishing the race in 2 minutes and 7.51 seconds at the Japan Open, shaving almost a second off the previous mark.

In the Athens Olympic Games, Kitajima beat his long-time rival American Brendan Hansen and won the golds in the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke. Hansen settled for a silver in the 100 meters and a bronze after Gyurta in the 200m.

Surprisingly, Hansen failed to book a spot in the American team for the men's 200-meter breaststroke race in the Beijing Games to be kicked off on August 8.