Germany hurtled to their third world record of the European swimming championships with a riproaring victory in the women''s 4x200 metres freestyle relay.
BUDAPEST: Germany hurtled to their third world record of the European swimming championships with a riproaring victory in the women''s 4x200 metres freestyle relay.
The Germans had already obliterated two Australian world marks in Budapest but this time it was an American record which was consigned to history by a vast 2.60 seconds.
Petra Dallmann, Daniela Samulski, Britta Steffen and Annika Liebs clocked seven minutes 50.82 seconds to destroy the world mark of 7:53.42 set by the Americans at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The feat, which closed the day's action before another rainstorm engulfed the Alfred Hajos pool, capped a spectacular evening in which Laure Manaudou bagged two individual gold medals and added a bronze in the French relay squad.
Manaudou, who had already won gold in the 800 metres freestyle, added the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke in less than 40 minutes but even she was powerless to stop the Germans in the relay.
Otylia Jedrzejczak had given Poland a big lead on the first leg but Samulski put Germany in front on the second. Steffen stretched the advantage and Liebs charged home in the fastest split of 1:55.64, which even the indefatigable Manaudou could not match.
The Germans had broken Australia's 4x100 freestyle relay world mark on Monday with Steffen recording the fastest relay split of all time before herself topping that on Wednesday with another world record in the 100 metres freestyle.
As the heavens opened, the last East German long-course European record -- the 4x200 freestyle relay mark of 7:55.47 dating back to 1987 and the oldest in the book -- had been washed away by a new generation of Germans.
Manaudou took her Budapest tally to three golds and a bronze with three events still to come in her eight-event odyssey.
The 19-year-old Frenchwoman, who botched a golden chance in Monday's 400 metres individual medley, opened the evening's swimming by ending the long European reign of Olympic champion Yana Klochkova in the 200 individual medley.
Less than 40 minutes later, including a five-minute interlude on the victory podium to receive her medal, she was back to defend the 100 backstroke title.
Trailing sixth at the halfway mark, she picked up speed on the return length to win in 1:00.88 from Germans Antje Buschschulte (1:01.40) and Janine Pietsch (1:01.55).
"I'm positively surprised by my time because I missed my start, but my second lap was excellent," she said.
In the 200 individual medley, Manaudou took the lead on the second leg, the backstroke, and surged away to win in 2:12.69 from Poland's Katarzyna Baranowska (2:13.36) and 400 individual medley champion Alessia Filippi of Italy (2:13.75).
Klochkova, 200 and 400 individual medley champion at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, faded to fourth, failing in her bid to become the first swimmer to win the same event at five successive European championships.
Italy's Loris Facci touched first in the men's 200 metres breaststroke but his celebrations were short-lived as he was disqualified for a one-handed touch on the second turn, giving European short-course champion Slawomir Kuczko of Poland the gold in 2:12.12.
Facci's fellow Italian Paolo Bossini moved up to silver and Britain's Kris Gilchrist gained the bronze.
There was more gold for Poland in the men's 200 metres butterfly, with world champion Pawel Korzeniowski winning in a championship record 1:55.04 by some two seconds from Ionnis Drymonakos of Greece and Nikolai Skvortsov of Russia.
Germany's Helge Meeuw took the men's 50 backstroke in 25.06 ahead of Aristeidis Grigoriadis of Greece and Britain's Matt Clay.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}