Peirsol, relay team win gold

ROME - Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.) and the Men's 800m free relay won gold and set world records Friday at the 2009 FINA World Championships. Peirsol's victory came in the men's 200m backstroke, where he shattered his former mark in this event by 1.16 seconds, with a time of 1:51.92. Later, Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Ricky Berens (Charlotte, NC), David Walters (Newport News, Va.) and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) combined for a time of 6:58.55 in the men's 800m free relay, edging the mark set by the U.S. last year at the Olympic Games. Team USA won a total of four medals on the sixth day of competition.

The Americans' medal count in the pool after Friday's session stands at 16 - seven gold, four silver and five bronze. The U.S. leads all countries in gold medals and in the overall medal count.

In the men's 200m back, Peirsol took the lead at the start,  and was three-tenths ahead of world record pace at the first turn.  Lochte pulled ahead at the 100-meter mark, only to have Peirsol re-gain the lead in the third length.

"That was a piece of cake," Peirsol said. "It felt really good. I've had this sort of time in my mind for a while and have been waiting to do it for a long time. I've kind of been struggling in this race lately. I don't know if it's mental, physical or what, but tonight I pushed through it."

Japan's Ryosuke Irie was second in 1:52:51, while Lochte was third in 1:53.82.

The U.S. bettered its own world record in the men's 800m relay by a hundredth of a second, marking the third relay medal for the red, white and blue. The USA finished the first leg of the men's 800m free relay about two seconds behind Germany, but Berens quickly gained ground and took a body-length lead by the end of the second leg. Walters held on to that lead, and Lochte held off the charging Russians in the final 100 meters of the race for the win. Russia took silver in 6:59.15, followed by Australia in 7:01.65.

"These guys set it up, and I just tried not to mess it up for them," Lochte said. "In the final length, I turned and saw the Russians and thought, 'This is not going to be easy."

Besides the two American swims, four other world records were set Friday at Stadia Del Nuoto.  Germany's Britta Steffen broke the first in the women's 100m freestyle. Her time (52.07). The Netherlands' Marlene Veldhuis set a world record (25.28) in the semifinals of the women's 50m butterfly, only to have that mark broken in the second heat by Sweden's Therese Alshammar (25.07). Serbia's Milorad Cavic broke Michael Phelps' world record in the semifinals of the men's 100m butterfly in 50.01.

Additionally, Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, NJ) set an American record in the semifinals of the men's 50m free in 21.40.

Adding to Team USA's medal haul, Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) finished second behind Hungary's Daniel Gyurta in the men's 200m breaststroke by one hundredth of a second, touching in 2:07.65.  Giedrius Titenis of Lithuania was third in 2:07.80.

In other finals action, Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, NJ) finished fourth in the women's 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:22.15. Serbia's Nadia Higl took gold in 2:21.62, Canada's Annamay Pierse won silver (2:21.84) and Austria's Mirna Jukic won bronze (2:21.97).

Steffen's world record in tonight's finals of the women's 100m free bested the rest of the field by almost a second. Fran Halsall of Great Britain was second in 52.87, while Libby Trickett of Australia was third in 52.93. Americans Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 53.12 and 53.30. Weir set the American record twice in this event, once in the prelims (53.20) and once again in the semifinals (53.02).

Four semifinals were also contested tonight. The world record was broken twice in the semifinals of the women's 50m fly, first by Veldhuis and again in the second heat by Alshammar. American Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.) finished 15^th in the semifinals and did not advance.

Team USA's Cullen Jones and Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Calif.) qualified fifth and seventh, respectively, for tomorrow night's finals of the men's 50m freestyle. Jones set the American record by a hundredth of a second in 21.40, while Adrian turned in a time of 21.46.

Milorad Cavic and Phelps are the top two qualifiers in the men's 100m butterfly. Phelps turned in a time of 50.48 in Friday's semis. U.S. National Team rookie Tyler McGill (Champaign, Ill.) qualified eighth in 51.07.

Both Americans advanced in the women's 200m back. Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, RI) and Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) will both be swimming in Saturday's finals as the fourth and eighth seeds. Beisel touched in 2:07.48 in tonight's semis, while Pelton touched in 2:09.57.

Six finals will be contested tomorrow night with the men's 50m freestyle (Jones, Adrian) and 100m fly (Phelps), and the  women's 50m fly, 200m back (Pelton, Beisel), 800m free and 4x100m medley relay.