German woman sets 100 freestyle record

Steffen goes 53.30 seconds at European Championships, tops mark of 53.42

	Britta Steffen celebrates after winning the 100-meter freestyle at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary Wednesday.
Michael Sohn / AP

Inside NBCSports.com

Scores, schedules
Fantasy sports
Trash Talk
Player news
Sports odds
Game matchups
Week in Pictures
JT The Brick

updated 2:00 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2006

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Germany’s Britta Steffen set a world record in the women’s 100-meter freestyle at the European Swimming Championships on Wednesday, finishing in 53.30 seconds.

She broke the mark of 53.42 by Australia’s Lisbeth Lenton, set at the Commonwealth Games trials on Jan. 31 in Melbourne, Australia.

Steffen looked at the time on the screen above the pool and almost started to cry. She then took off her cap, her look turning to one of astonishment.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

“I can’t believe it. It’s like when you lose and you can’t believe it, either,” Steffen said. “I still can’t believe I set a new world record.”

On Monday, Steffen was part of the German team that broke the world record in the women’s 400 freestyle relay.

In the 100, Steffen was 0.11 seconds off the previous record at the 50-meter mark, but held up strongly on the second and final lap to break the record by 0.12.

Slide show
Week in Sports Pictures
Pain on the skating rink, flying high on the hardwood, upsets on the football field, and more.
more photos
Her previous best time was 54.29, a national record set in June at the German championships. But she was relatively unknown on the international stage.

The 22-year-old swimmer’s best previous placing was 15th in the 50 freestyle at the 2002 Europeans. Steffen, however, gave an indication Monday of her potential when she swam her leg in the record-breaking relay in 52.66, the fastest ever.