Two world records fall at FINA World Cup

Two world records fell over the weekend during the third stop on the 2008 FINA Swimming World Cup in Sydney, Australia. Matt Jaukovic and Robert Hurley, both from Australia, were responsible for breaking the records in the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke, respectively. Jaukovic lowered the record by one-tenth to finish in 22.50, while Hurley clocked in at 23.24 to erase the record by just .03 seconds.

Oussama Mellouli, who represents Tunisia but trains at the University of Southern California, also had an impressive showing in Sydney. Mellouli took home eight gold medals, winning the 200m, 400m and 1500m free, as well as the 100m, 200m and 400m IM. On the women's side, Russia's Katheryn Meaklim also took home an impressive amount of gold hardware. Meaklim earned victories in the 800m free, 200m breaststroke, 200m fly, and 200m and 400m IM.

While Americans have been a dominating factor in the backstroke events in the World Cup tour, no Americans competed in finals on the Sydney stop. Australia's Christian Sprenger and Marieke Guehrer now lead the series with 55 and 75 points, respectively.