World records are made to be broken - just not in the semifinals. But that's when 19-year-old Lisbeth Lenton had the swim of her life, heard the roar of the crowd and looked up at the scoreboard to see she had swum the fastest women's 100-meter freestyle in history.
And just like that, she became Australia's newest young star.
Lenton's world record (53.66 seconds) at Australia's Olympic Trials in March served notice to the swimming world that she could dominate the sprints in Athens. In that same meet, she swam the 50 free in 24.70, tying the Netherlands' Inge de Bruijn for the fastest time in the world this year.
No Australian woman has medaled in the 50 free, and none has won Olympic gold in the 100 since Dawn Frasier in the 1964 Games.
Lenton said her world-record swim left her "in complete and utter disbelief," so it goes without saying that the rest of her country was surprised, too. She only was beginning to get attention after setting an Australian record in the 50 free at the 2003 Australian nationals. Lenton's rapid improvement is attributed to a coaching change in October 2002, leading to adjustments in her stroke and an increase in her training sessions.
AUSSIES RULE: The entire Australian women's team is much improved from four years ago, thanks to a wave of young swimmers who are performing brilliantly.
Lenton could be eclipsed in the 100 free by 20-year-old Jodie Henry, who at the Australian Trials equaled de Bruijn's old world record in her semifinal heat, which followed Lenton's. Then Henry bested Lenton in the final. Henry also came out on top at the 2003 Worlds, finishing second to Lenton's fifth. Both will have to contend with de Bruijn, who set three world records in Sydney and will swim the 50 and 100 free as well as the 100 butterfly in Athens.
Leisel Jones, 18, will go head-to-head with American Amanda Beard in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Jones beat Beard with a world-record swim in the 100 at last year's world championships. She then set a world record in the 200 on July 10, but Beard lowered it by half a second two days later at the U.S. Trials.
The veteran of the group is Petria Thomas, 28, who is ranked No. 1 in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Thomas won two silvers and a bronze in Sydney.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE: Germany's Franziska van Almseck is returning for her fourth Olympics. The popular and personable van Almseck, 26, who as a 14-year old in Barcelona narrowly lost the 200 free to St. Petersburg's Nicole Haislett, has held the world record in that event for a decade but never has won Olympic gold. In 2002, she lowered her world record - which had stood since 1994 - at the European Championships. She enters Athens ranked No. 3 in the 200 free and hopes to add to her eight medals.
