INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) - Lisbeth Lenton swam the fastest 100m freestyle relay split ever timed to anchor a world-record effort by Australia's women's 4x100 medley relay at the World Short Course Championships.
The Aussies lineup of Sophie Eddington, Brooke Hanson, Jessica Schipper and Lenton won in 3 mins, 54.95 seconds to break the old mark of 3:55.78 set by Sweden on April 5, 2002, at Moscow, and edge the Americans, second in 3:55.68 on Saturday.
"It's just great to be part of this record. It's just fantastic. It was so exciting," Lenton said. "It's great to be part of the team that just pipped the Americans. We're quite an inexperienced team and that was their Olympic team."
In her third swim of the night, Lenton anchored the victory with a freestyle leg of 52.05 seconds. The 19-year-old Aussie surpassed the best prior split of 52.19 by China's Le Jingyi in 1994.
"I felt good," Lenton said. "The girls did a great job to get us where we were. I just focussed on what I had to do in my race."
A crowd of 11,488, the largest US non-Olympic swim crowd, screamed with joy as the US and Aussies duelled each other and history over the final laps.
"You could really feel the energy," Hanson said. "We just went out there to do a job. We all did what we had to do. Not only to beat them in the final but to do it on US soil and hear the anthem playing, it was exciting."
The Aussies were side-by-side the the United States throughout the race but the American lineup of Haley Coipe, Tara Kirk, Jenny Thompson and Kara Joyce could not conquer the Aussies despite beating the former world mark.
"All I can say is it took a world record to beat us," Thompson said. "We would have loved to have won the race but we all swam great."
Lenton, who helped Australia claim Olympic 4x100 freestyle gold, won the 100 freestyle in 52.67 for her first individual world crown and was third in the 50 butterfly.
Athens Olympic 100-metre breaststroke runner-up Hanson, 26, won the 100 individual medley in a personal best 1:00.01 for her second title of the meet. She had won the 50 breaststroke crown Friday.
American swimmers, who won 10 of 13 prior finals, added four more in 10 finals Saturday. Thompson ensured a triumphant farewell meet, Ian Crocker nearly set a world record and Kaitlin Sandeno added her fourth world title.
Thompson, whose 12 Olympic medals include eight relays golds, won the 50 butterfly in 25.89 seconds, taking her third world short course crown in the event following titles in 1999 and 2000.
"It was a great way to start my last meet," Thompson said. "It's so easy with the fans. They were chanting my name so it was very easy to get excited. I just wanted to keep the ball rolling with the golds for the US."
Other US champions were Sandeno in the 400 freestyle, Margaret Hoelzer in the 200 backstroke and Brendan Hansen in the 200 breaststroke.
Cocker, the Athens Olympic 100 butterfly runner-up and world short course champion, led Sunday's 50 butterfly final qualifiers in 22.76, two-hundredths of a second off the world record set by Australia's Geoff Huegill in 2002 at Berlin. The American served notice he plans to break that mark in the final.
"I usually get faster as the meet goes on," Crocker said. "I'm sure there are a few things I can improve on. I'll go back and look at the tapes and see where I can get those extra hundredths."
Britain's Mark Foster won the 50 freestyle crown in 21.58. Foster was second in last year's 50 free long course world final.
In a 200 IM showdown of Athens Olympic finalists, fifth-place finisher Thiago Pereira of Brazil won the title in 1:55.78 with Games silver medallist Ryan Lochte, an American, second by .08 of a second.
Russia's Yuri Prilukov, sixth at the Olympics, won the 400 freestyle title in 3:40.79 with American Chad Carvin, a 2000 short course world champion, second in 3:43.77.
Sandeno won the 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly Thursday in addition to anchoring a US 4x200 free relay victory, then captured the 400 free in 4:02.01.