Saturday, June 27, 2009

Pellegrini takes back 400m record

Federica Pellegrini
Pellegrini had previously held the record before Jackson eclipsed it

British swimmer Joanne Jackson had her 400m freestyle world record broken by Italy's Federica Pellegrini at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara.

Pellegrini dominated to win in four minutes 0.41 seconds beating the mark Jackson set in March by 0.25 seconds.

It sets up a huge race at July's World Championships in Rome where Pellegrini could face Jackson and Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.

However, Adlington has yet to confirm her place over eight lengths in Rome.

The 20-year-old was forced to withdraw from the women's 400m freestyle at the Scottish Championships in Glasgow because of asthma.

Highlights - Jackson beats Adlington to claim World Record

Meanwhile, Britta Steffen set a new world record in the 100m freestyle for the second time in a week at the German national championships on Saturday.

On Thursday she took three-hundedths of a second off Libby Trickett's record of 52.88 seconds, cutting it to 52.85.

And on Saturday the 25-year-old German bettered her own time by nearly three tenths of a second, down to 52.56 secs.

Steffen, who won 50m and 100m freestyle Olympic gold last year, wears a bodysuit likely to be banned next year.

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