German Long Course Nationals: Flash! Britta Steffen Clips World Record in Prelims

BERLIN, Germany, June 25. DURING preliminary heats of the second day of swimming at the German Long Course Nationals, Britta Steffen eclipsed Libby Trickett's world record in the women's 100 free.

Steffen clocked a time of 52.85 to beat Trickett's 2008 standard of 52.88. Steffen, however, completed the time in a much different way with a strong final 50 meters compared to Trickett's global mark.

Here are the comparative splits:

Steffen: 25.81, 52.85 (27.04)
Trickett: 25.40, 52.88 (27.48)

Steffen's final 50 was faster than her phenomenal back half during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where she posted a 27.08, .79 faster than the rest of the field, after flipping last with a 26.04 at the 50-meter mark. The 53.12 time in Beijing gave her the gold medal.

Today's swim is a reclamation project for Steffen as she held the record prior to Trickett's 52.88 time in 2008. Steffen previously posted a 53.30 in 2006 to take the standard away from the then Libby Lenton (53.42).

Recent women's 100 free progressions courtesy USA Swimming:
54.01 Jingyi Le CHN Rome 9/5/1994
53.80 Inge de Bruijn NED Sheffield 5/29/2000
53.77sf Inge de Bruijn NED Sydney 9/20/2000
53.66sf Libby Lenton AUS Sydney 3/31/2004
53.52sf Jodie Henry AUS Athens 8/18/2004
53.42sf Libby Lenton AUS Melbourne 1/31/2006
53.30 Britta Steffen GER Budapest 8/2/2006
52.88 Libby Trickett AUS Sydney 3/27/2008
52.85p Britta Steffen GER Berlin 6/25/2009

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