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ROME, Italy, August 2. THE world record of Marleen Veldhuis of The Netherlands fell by the wayside with a pair of swimmers eclipsing the time in the women's 50 free at the FINA World Championships.
Heading into the meet, Veldhuis' global mark stood at 23.96 set in April. Germany's Britta Steffen became the undisputed sprint queen of the world right now with a time of 23.73 that gave her both the 50 and 100 free world records.
Steffen powered by Sweden's Therese Alshammar, who placed second overall with a 23.88 that now stands as the second-best of all time.
Australia's Cate Campbell and Veldhuis tied for bronze with matching 23.99s, the fifth fastest times ever.
Great Britain's Fran Halsall (24.11), Australia's Libby Trickett (24.19), the United States' Amanda Weir (24.23) and the United States' Dara Torres (24.48) completed the finale.
"Eighth place is okay," Torres said." I'm dealing with a knee injury. I can say as a 42 year old that I'm the eighth fastest in the world. I don't know what the future holds. I love the sport so much. I'm having so much fun. I want to get faster. Maybe I can when I get this fixed."