Sophie Edington snatched the world record for 50 meters backstroke at the Australian Olympic trials on Sunday while the previous holder watched from the stands after electing to skip the race. Edington stopped the clock at 27.67 seconds to win the final and slice 0.28 off the record set by Emily Seebohm in the semifinals just 24 hours earlier. Seebohm, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, pulled out of the final to concentrate on the 100m backstroke because the 50m is not an Olympic event and would not help her make the team for Beijing. Seebohm set the fastest qualifying time for the 100 when she won her semifinal in 59.78, joining American Natalie Coughlin as the only women to break the one minute barrier, which she said was her focus. “The job is not over yet, I still have to make the team,” Seebohm told reporters. “It is the first time that an Australian girl has gone under one minute and I am absolutely ecstatic about it.” Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) joined Inge de Bruijn as the only women to break 57 seconds for 100 butterfly when she won the final in 56.81, just ahead of Jessicah Schipper, the 200 world record holder. Trickett is hoping to qualify for six events in Beijing after winning five gold medals at last year's world championships in Melbourne. She said winning her first final had boosted her confidence. Brenton Rickard won the men's 100 breaststroke final in one minute 00.04 seconds to book his place in the squad for Beijing alongside runner-up Christian Sprenger (1:00.22) while Linda MacKenzie (4:04.73) won the women's 400 freestyle ahead of Bronte Barratt (4:05.19).Bernard breaks record again Alain Bernard broke the 100-meter freestyle world record for the second time in two days Saturday, setting a new mark of 47.50 seconds in the final at the European Swimming Championships in the Netherlands. The 24-year-old Frenchman took one-tenth of a second off his record of 47.60 recorded in Friday's semifinals, which shattered Pieter van den Hoogenband's mark set at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He powered to the 50-meter mark in 22.53 seconds, more than three-tenths of a second inside his own record time, and swam the second 50 in 24.97. World short-course record holder Stefan Nystrand of Sweden was second (48.40), and world champion Filippo Magnini of Italy third (48.53). Yury Prilukov of Russia won his fourth straight 1,500m freestyle European title in 14:50.40, adding the title to the 400 gold he won at these championships. The 23-year-old Prilukov has now equaled the record of four straight titles by Joerg Hoffman between 1989-95. David Davies of Britain came second in 14:54.28, ahead of world champion Mateusz Sawrymonowicz of Poland. Swedish teenager Sarah Sjoestroem beat race favorite and defending champion Inge Dekker of the Netherlands in the 100m butterfly in 58.44. Aurore Mongel was third. Yuliya Efimova of Russia won the 200m breaststroke title in 2:24.09, from Mirna Jukic of Austria and Alena Alekseeva of Russia. Olympic silver medalist Frederica Pellegrini was disqualified in the heats of the women's 200-meter freestyle Saturday for a false start, and defending champion Laure Manaudou did not start at the European swimming championships. Manaudou, the world champion and record holder in the 200m free, left the championships to continue training for the Beijing Olympics. She won her second gold Friday night in the women's 800 freestyle relay after winning the 200 backstroke. __
