American women snap 17-year-old world mark

U.S. swam to gold in the 800-meter freestyle relay.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Inspired by the American men's narrow relay victory 24 hours earlier, the U.S. women did them one better -- breaking the oldest record in swimming.
They erased the 800-meter freestyle world mark by 2 1/2 seconds in winning Olympic gold for the third consecutive games Wednesday night.
"We're some tough chicks," said Kaitlin Sandeno, who swam the final leg and touched the wall in 7 minutes, 53.42 seconds, lowering the record of 7:55.47 set exactly 17 years ago by East Germany.
"It's a huge deal," said Natalie Coughlin, who led off for the Americans with a faster time than the gold-medal performance in the 200 freestyle.
Festive night
Their performance capped a spectacular fifth night of swimming at the Olympic pool.
Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands repeated as the Olympic champion in the 100 freestyle, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima completed a sweep of the men's breaststroke events, and Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland won her third medal in Athens with a victory in the 200 butterfly.
And, for one night, the U.S. women didn't have to share the spotlight with Michael Phelps. The teenager didn't swim in a final Wednesday, although he advanced to the 200 individual medley final with an Olympic-record time in the semifinals.
The American women won the 800 free relay 24 hours after Klete Keller held off Aussie Ian Thorpe by 13-hundredths of a second in a thrilling men's relay.
The Chinese women took the silver, while Germany edged out Australia for the bronze by just five-hundredths of a second.
Even Aussie Petria Thomas, who swam her team's final leg, was happy to see the mark obliterated.
"It was a pretty old one and perhaps a little bit tainted," she said. "It's great it's been broken."
Drug scandal
The East Germans set the relay record at a French meet on Aug. 18, 1987. Two years later, the Communist government collapsed, revealing evidence of massive doping violations that had been suspected for years.
"It burned people a lot, and we all know the reason why," U.S. women's coach Mark Schubert said. "We're very proud to have that record back."
Another world record was set in the semifinals of the women's 100 freestyle. Australian Jodie Henry won her heat in 53.52, lowering the mark of 53.66 set by Lisbeth Lenton at the Australian trials in March.
None of the American women realized the relay record had belonged to the East Germans. Not surprising, since 16-year-old Vollmer of Fort Worth, Texas, was three months from being born when it was set. Coughlin, of Concord, Calif., and Sandeno, of Lake Forest, Calif., are 21, and Piper of Grosse Point, Mich., is 20.
"I knew I could lead off with a really great swim," Coughlin said. "I got really excited, especially when I was passing all the other girls."
Van den Hoogenband won his second straight gold in the 100 free by overcoming South Africa's Roland Schoeman with a furious sprint to the finish.
"It's so much harder to defend your title," he said. "To win again after four years is such a big relief."