By John Lohn
MELBOURNE, Australia, March 28. WHEN the week started, the world record in the women's 200 freestyle sat at 1:56.64. It now ranks at 1:55.52, thanks to the splendid showing of France's Laure Manaudou in the championship final. Trailing only at the 50-meter mark, Manaudou broke the global standard of 1:56.47, set by Italy's Federica Pellegrini during the semifinals.
Manaudou, who earlier won the 400 free and claimed silver in the 100 backstroke, needed every bit of that performance as Germany's Annika Lurz was on her trail the entire race and finished in 1:55.68, the second-fastest performance in history. Lurz was in the lead at the first turn and sat on Manaudou to the wall, only to come up just short.
Pellegrini was the bronze medalist in 1:56.97, off her short-lasting world record from the previous night. It's hard to believe that her record swim was bettered by nearly a second. Taking fourth place was the United States' Katie Hoff, but the more notable feat is that Hoff lowered the American record she set in the prelims. Hoff was timed in 1:57.09, under her 1:57.29 from a night earlier. Fifth place went to Sweden's Josefin Lillhage (1:57.90) and American Dana Vollmer was sixth (1:58.30).
"I just wanted to improve on yesterday," Pellegrini said. "Yesterday was a perfect race and you can't improve on a perfect race. There's still time for me to do it again. I didn't expect I would lower it too much (tonight) but I'm only 18. I can still do many things. I think it's just fair like this."
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