Deluge of records broken at unique worlds

ROME, (Reuters) – Swimming’s short-term experiment  with hi-tech suits prompted the expected flood of records at the  world championships yesterday with Federica Pellegrini among  those setting new marks which might stand for years to come.

Despite most versions only being approved last month,  polyurethane costumes are poised to be banned from 2010 with  governing body FINA planning to return to an era of textile  suits and male trunks.

The first day of the Rome worlds will enter swimming  folklore but for many it will be for all the wrong reasons.

Six world records were bettered, two in semi-finals where  15-year-old Sarah Sjostrom and American Ariana Kukors were  genuinely surprised by their achievements in the 100 metres  butterfly and 200 individual medley respectively.

Dara Torres, whose U.S. women’s 4x100m relay team finished  fourth behind gold medallists and world record breakers the  Netherlands, said the sport was in turmoil.

“It will be great when they go back (to the old rules) and  they find out who the real swimmers are. A lot of the athletes  in the back were saying this is crazy, that this is the last  time it is going to happen,” Torres, 42, told reporters.

“I don’t know if they are going to keep the records or put  an asterisk by them. But even if it were me out there breaking a  world record, I don’t think I’d be jumping for joy.”

Germany’s Britta Steffen also shattered her own world record  in the first leg of the relay when she cut through the water  like a speedboat in a time of 52.22 seconds.

Mild fever
The records books were taking a battering and Italian  Pellegrini was happy to oblige despite having a mild fever.
S
he rocketed to gold in the women’s 400 freestyle, breaking  the four minute barrier to destroy her own world record and  leave Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington trailing in her wake.

The magazine cover girl surged through the open air pool in  3 minutes 59.15 having swum a record 4:00.41 last month.

“I was running a little bit of a fever before the race so I  decided I would just stick on my Ipod and kick back and relax,”  she said.

Britain’s Joanne Jackson was second and compatriot Adlington  third in Speedo’s LZR suit, which was the first of the new  costumes but has now been usurped by the likes of Jaked.

Michael Phelps, who won a record eight golds at last year’s  Beijing Olympics, is also contracted to Speedo and he was only  third in the first leg of the men’s 4×100 relay won by his  American team.

Ian Thorpe’s 2002 world best in the men’s 400 metres  freestyle final was thought to be as good as sacred but  Germany’s Paul Biedermann swam 3 minutes 40.07 to beat the mark  by one hundredth of a second and take gold.

South Korea’s Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan missed out on  the final after finishing only 12th overall in the heats.

A host of championship records fell in the morning heats  under a blistering Rome sun and although the temperature cooled  for the evening session, performances continued to soar.

Spain’s Rafael Munoz qualified first for today’s 50 metres  butterfly final in a championship record of 22.68 seconds but  defending champion Roland Schoeman crashed out in his semi.

Cancer survivor Eric Shanteau of the United States also set  a world best in his 100 breaststroke semi-final.