German Swimmers Break 4X100m World Record

Germany set a new world record in the women's 4x100 metres freestyle relay at the European titles in Budapest overnight, beating the mark set by Australia at the Athens Olympics. Petra Dallmann, Daniela Goetz, Britta Steffen and Annika Liebs clocked three minutes and 35.22 seconds to beat the old mark of 3:35.94 set by Australians Alice Mills, Libby Lenton, Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry in August of 2004. The third swimmer Steffen produced the fastest split of 52.66 seconds. "It can't have been me - I still can't grasp and believe that I clocked 52.66," she said. "I didn't feel well before the race but after the heats this morning we set our eyes on the world record." The Netherlands (3:37.04) took silver behind Germany, while France (3:38.83) claimed bronze.