Five world records - last-gasp US win in Olympic pool (2nd Roundup)

By Peter Auf der Heyde Aug 11, 2008, 13:14 GMT

Beijing - American super star Michael Phelps needed the help of a teammate to stay on course towards swim history by winning eight gold medals as five world records were broken in the Beijing Olympic swimming pool on Monday.

Phelps helped the US 4x100m freestyle relay team to gold in an extraordinary race that saw two of the day's records.

In the morning session, Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry and Japan's Kosuke Kitajima also swam world record, while Italian Federica Pellegrini added one during the evening heats.

The biggest story of the day undoubtedly was the US relay team that looked well beaten at the final turn as Frenchman Alain Bernard led Jason Lezak by almost half a second.

But the 32-year-old managed to edge ever closer to Bernard, whose 100m freestyle record of 47.50 from earlier this year was bettered by the opening Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan with a 47.24 swim to give his team an early lead.

Bernard admitted later that he swam too close to Lezak, allowing the American to make use of his waves and touch just centimetres ahead of Bernard.

The US team, who were cheered on by US President George W Bush, slashed an astonishing 3.99 seconds off the world record they set in Sunday's semi-finals. France swam a European record 3:08.32 minutes and Australia took bronze with 3:09.91 as the top five teams were faster than the 15-hour-old former record from a US reserve team in the heats.

The first gold medal of the day went to Australian Lisbeth Trickett, who won the women's 100m butterfly in 56.73 seconds from Christine Magnuson of the US (57.10) and Jessicah Schipper of Australia (57.25).

Trickett said that she did not expect to win gold.

'It's more than I could have dreamed of. More than anything I am relieved. Before the race I felt like I was going to vomit, I was so nervous.

'Then, as I walked out, I felt this amazing sense of calm come over me. More than anything, I wanted to walk away with no regrets.

'To come out with not only a gold medal, but a personal best in these circumstances is really more than I could have dreamed of.'

In the men's 100m breaststroke, Kitajima repeated his gold medal performance from Athens when he won in a world record time of 58.91 seconds, taking 0.22 seconds off the previous mark of 59.13 seconds set by American Brendan Hansen two years ago.

Alexander Dale Oen gave Norway a first swim medal, a silver in 59.20, and Frenchman Hugues Duboscq took bronze in 59.37 seconds.

Kitajima said he had been hoping for a time under 59 seconds.

'This is what I have been hoping for and I won with that time. When I saw the screen I thought it said 59.90 and I though it was terribly slow, but I checked it again and it was 58,' said the Japanese.

Briton Rebecca Adlington stunned American favourite Katie Hoff in the women's 400m freestyle, winning in 4:03.22. Adlington was lying just fourth at the last turn, but pulled out all the stops on the last lap to edge out her American rival by just 0.07.

Adlington's compatriot Joanne Jackson was third in a time of 4:03.52.

In the women's 100m breaststroke semis, Coventry, who won silver in the 400m IM, swam 58.77 seconds to break the world record of 58.97 set by Natalie Coughlin at the US trials last month.

In the evening session Federica Pellegrini of Italy bettered the women's 200 metres freestyle world record in the heats.

Pellegrini clocked 1 minute 55.45 seconds, shaving seven hundreds of a second off the 1:55.52 minutes Laure Manaudou of France swam at 2007 worlds in Melbourne.

She said that she had not gone into the water determined to swim a world record.

'But I felt good in the water and I said alright, let's go.

'It's great revenge for what happened this morning (where she finished fifth in the women's 400m freestyle). I showed that I have mint form,' she said.

Pellegrini was joined in the semi-finals by virtually all the favourites apart from Germany's Annika Lurz, who won the silver at the world championships in Melbourne, but crashed out swimming more than four seconds above her personal best.

In the men's 200m butterfly heats Phelps swam a new Olympic record of 1:53.70 to beat his own record of 1:54.04 that he established at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Phelps said that he was pleased to go through.

'I don't want to say I cruised it, but I swam it the way I wanted. It doesn't matter until the finals. As long as you have a lane you're in it,' he said.

In the 200m freestyle semi-final in the morning Phelps was third in his heat behind compatriot Peter Vanderkaay and Korean Park Tae Hwan, but still qualified comfortably for Tuesday's final.

Australian Alicia Coutts topped a strong women's 200m IM field with a time of 2:11.55, beating Americans Katie Hoff and Natalie Coughlin. Also comfortably through to the semi-finals were Coventry and Australian 400m gold medallist Stephanie Rice.

The swimming competition continues on Tuesday morning with four finals.

Phelps is hoping to equal the record number of nine gold medals won by a single athlete at the Olympics in the men's 200m freestyle. Theree are also the women's and men's 100m backstroke and the women's 100m breaststroke.