Posted: Friday December 16, 2011 8:05PM ; Updated: Friday December 16, 2011 10:38PM

Americans set world record, roar to commanding Duel in the Pool lead

Story Highlights

The United States set a short-course world record in the very first event

The Americans won 12 of the 14 events and boast a 93.5-28.5 points lead

The U.S. has never lost the Duel in the Pool, which was launched in 2003

Ryan Lochte (bottom) beat Poland's Radoslaw Kawecki to win the men's 200 meters backstroke.

Tami Chappell /Reuters

ATLANTA (AP) -- The United States set a short-course world record in the very first event and raced to a commanding lead over Europe after Day 1 of Duel in the Pool.

Led by Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin, the Americans won 12 of the 14 events Friday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center and are well on their way to staying unbeaten in the Duel series with a 93.5-28.5 lead in the points.

The tone was set in the opening event, the women's 400-meter medley relay. Coughlin got the Americans off to a quick start in the backstroke, Rebecca Soni blazed through the breaststroke, Dana Vollmer kept it going in the butterfly, and the 16-year-old Franklin finished strong in the freestyle for a time of 3 minutes, 45.56 seconds.

That crushed the previous record of 3:47.97, set by the Americans at the 2009 Duel in the Pool just before high-tech racing suits were banned by the international governing body.

"We have four really great girls in that relay," Coughlin said. "We were confident going in, and that definitely helped us get the world record."

The European squad -- Daryna Zevina of Ukraine, Rikke Moeller Pedersen of Denmark, Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark, and Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands -- was never a factor. The European team touched in 3:51.04.

Franklin, a rising star, said the Americans were eager to take down the record after barely missing it at the short-course world championships last year.

"It was amazing and so special," Franklin said. "It was great to come back and get it. It sets us up really well for next summer."

The Americans were favored to extend their domination at Duel in the Pool, which was launched in 2003 to boost interest in swimming during non-Olympic years. The U.S. easily beat the Australians at the first three Duels, then routed the Europeans two years ago.