Four world records broken at European short course

RIJEKA, Croatia (AP) -- Four world records were broken at the European short-course championships on Thursday, with the Italian men's 200-meter medley relay team setting two on its way to winning gold.

Mirco Di Tora, Alessandro Terrin, Marco Belotti and Filippo Magnini finished in 1 minute, 32.91 seconds, 0.85 seconds faster than the world record set by the Russian team earlier in the day.

In Thursday's first heat, the Italians broke the world record of 1:34.06 set by Germany in Helsinki, Finland in 2006. The Russians broke that mark in the following heat.

The Russian and German teams tied for second in the final, finishing in 1:33.31.

Amaury Leveaux of France set a world record in the semifinals of the 50 freestyle, finishing in 20.48 seconds to beat the mark of 20.64 set by Roland Schoeman of South Africa on Sept. 6 in Germiston, South Africa. In the final, Leveaux won the gold in 20.63.

Leveaux said he came to championships with "empty pockets" and "now I'm going home with the world record and as a European champion."

Frederick Bousquet, a former world-record holder, took silver, finishing in 20.69, and Croatia's Duje Draganja was third in 21.15.

French swimmers filled the first four places in the men's 50 free heats, but a national limit meant only two could race in the semifinals. Olympic 100 champion Alain Bernard was excluded when he finished third behind Leveaux and Bousquet.

In men's 200 backstroke, Stanislav Donets of Russia and Aschwin Wildeboer Faber of Spain dead-heated for first in 1:49.22 to share the gold.

Paul Biedermann of Germany won gold in the 400 free, while Valentina Artemyeva of Russia won the women's 50 breaststroke.

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