World record spree at European championships

By Derek Parr

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - Marleen Veldhuis and Federica Pellegrini kept up the relentless world record rush at the European swimming championships on Monday to lift the overall count to six at the end of the final day.

Veldhuis sped through the 50 meters freestyle in 24.09 seconds to win her third gold medal of the championships and beat the mark of 24.13 set by her Dutch compatriot Inge de Bruijn at the Sydney Olympics on September 22, 2000.

Italy's Pellegrini, who had been disqualified for a false start in the 200 freestyle heats on Saturday, bounced back by taking the women's 400 meters freestyle world record from Olympic and world champion Laure Manaudou of France.

Pellegrini clocked four minutes 1.53 seconds to better the mark of 4:02.13 mark set by Manaudou at the last European championships in Budapest on August 6, 2006.

Alain Bernard, who had broken three world records in three days, was happy just to win the men's 50 freestyle in 21.66, 0.16 of a second outside the world mark he set in Sunday's semi-finals.

"Today my aim was to win the title. After these three crazy days it was difficult to remain mentally sane. It's my second-best time plus my second gold," the Frenchman, who also broke the 100 meters world mark twice in Eindhoven, told reporters.

Olympic silver medalist Duje Draganja of Croatia took silver in the 50 in 22.00 and Sweden's Stefan Nystrand, second to Bernard in the 100 freestyle, bronze in 22.16.

There were European records for Hungary's Laszlo Cseh in the 400 individual medley, Britain's women's medley relay and Russia's men's medley relay, while 13-year-old Briton Tom Daley unfurled his precocious skills on the 10-metre tower to win the platform diving crown.