Bernard breaks world mark again to strike gold

By Derek Parr

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - Frenchman Alain Bernard shattered the 100 metres freestyle world record for the second time in two days when he won the gold medal at the European swimming championships on Saturday.

Bernard, who snatched the record from Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband at the Dutchman's home pool in Friday's semi-finals, lowered it by a further 0.10 to 47.50 seconds to win the final by the best part of a second.

Bernard had clocked 47.60 seconds in the semi-finals to beat the 47.84 mark Van den Hoogenband set in the semi-finals of the Sydney Olympics on September 19, 2000, on the way to the first of his two Olympic 100 freestyle titles.

Van den Hoogenband, who turned 30 last week, had pulled out of the event here, having been ill during the week.

The heavily-muscled Bernard turned at the 50-metre mark in 22.53, a breathtaking 0.35 seconds inside his own world record split of 22.88, and powered down the return length to finish the job to the cheers of spectators in the National Swimming Centre.

Sweden's Stefan Nystrand took silver in 48.40. Italy's world champion Filippo Magnini, the winner at the last two European championships, could only manage the bronze in 48.53.

Bernard's best time before Eindhoven was 48.12.

"It's unbelievable. I wanted to be faster today, now I know that I'm the man to beat. I have been searching for this level for years," the Frenchman said.