Sydney, September 17: Australian teenager Ian Thorpe, who began the Sydney Olympics by smashing two world records, lost another on Sunday as one of the fastest pools on the planet witnessed three more historic swims. Dutch duo Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn and American Tom Dolan all set new marks to bring the total of swimming world records at the Games to a remarkable eight in the opening two days of the competition.After five world records fell on Saturday in one of the most spectacular sessions in Olympic history, van den Hoogenband started off the second evening by shaving 0.16 seconds off Thorpe's 200 freestyle world record, clocking 1:45.35 in the semifinals.In the very next event, compatriot Inge de Bruijn bettered her own world record to win the women's 100 butterfly final in 56.61. De Bruijn set the previous best of 56.64 in Seattle on July 22. Her US rival Jenny Thompson could only finish fifth behind silver medallist Martina Moravcova of Slovakia and American Dara Torres.In the final race of the evening, defending champion Dolan dominated the 400 individual medley final from start to finish to clock 4:11.76 and better his own previous best of 4:12.30, set in Rome six years ago.Some thought van den Hoogenband's record would stand for just a few minutes with Thorpe swimming in the second semi-final. But the prodigious 17-year-old Australian was unable to match the Dutchman's split times throughout the race and finished 0.02 seconds outside the new mark.It was the still the fastest the Australian has ever recorded in the discipline and Monday's final is likely to see more record-breaking. "It's going to be a very tough final," the Dutchman said.Thorpe added: "I was happy to get a personal best. It's going to be a great final. I wasn't really concentrating on what he did, just my own race." In the other finals of the evening Italian Domenico Fioravanti, who looked convincing in the heats, took the men's 100 breaststroke title in 1:00.46, the first Italian gold medal in swimming. Brooke Bennett continued the US women's excellent start in the Games by winning the 400 freestyle in 4:05.80.The Sydney Games have already seen four more world records in two days than during the whole of the swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Games. On Saturday, Thorpe smashed the 400 metres freestyle world record and then produced a dramatic last leg in the 4X100 freestyle relay for another historic time.An aqua-dynamic swimming pool?Why is Sydney's pool fast? Part of it is technological, part psychological. When the pool was built in 1994 after Sydney was awarded the 2000 games, the designers used every trick in the book to build a pool that would produce fast times, mostly by eliminating waves and reducing drag. There is no variation in the water depth which reducesturbulence. Unlike older style pools that had a shallow and deep end, Sydney's pool is three metres deep from start to finish. The water on the sides of the pool spills on to the deckand drains away rather than flowing back into the pool.The racing lanes, once ropes, are designed to stop waves crashing from one lane to the next. Water is maintained at a constant of 26 degrees C and treated with an ozone filter that improves visibility and cuts the taste, smell and red eyes from chlorine. Even the starting blocks are designed to help, angled to give them a flying start.
