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ROME, Italy, July 31. THE Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis lowered her world record in the women's 50 fly semifinals at the FINA World Championships. Sweden's Therese Alshammar came over the top in the second semifinal to head into the finale with the top time in history.
Veldhuis sizzled with a 25.28 in the first semifinal to dip under her global mark of 25.33 set in April. Alshammar, however, had different plans in mind as she demolished the world record with a 25.07 in the second semifinal. Alshammar and Veldhuis will be seeded 1-2 in the finale.
Norway's Ingvild Snildal finished third in 25.53, while Australia's Marieke Guehrer took fourth in 25.58.
China's Zhou Yafei (25.59), Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (25.76), Brazil's Daynara De Paula (25.85) and France's Diane Bui Duyet (25.87) completed the final field.