In 59.50, Laure Manaudou (FRA) cracked the European 100m backstroke record in semis on Thursday here in Eindhoven. Tonight she lost the crown and the record, to Anastasia Zueva (RUS) in 59.41. Zueva split 28.89 and returned home in 30.52, while Manaudou's 1:00.05 silver medal came off 29.20 and 30.85. The bronze went to Nina Zhivanevskaya (ESP) in 1:00.29.
Zueva swam 59.64 in St Petersburg last month before Manaudou took back the mark in semis, only to lose it again in a final that witnessed a tense performance from the Frenchwoman. Zueva looked strong on the way out. When Manaudou responded and drew level half-way home, The rested Russian aiming to qualify for Beijing 2008, had an answer that settled the argument with the unrested Manaudou. The result prevented the Frenchwoman becoming the first to win the crown at three successive championships.
The sub-minute club now looks like this:
The last Russian-born swimmer to win the title was Zhivanevskaya in 2000, though she was already swimming for Spain by then. Before that, Tina Lekveishvili, of Georgia, was a champion for the Soviet Union in 1970.
Zhivanevskaya, 31, was the only one who spoke to reporters and said: 'The others started very fast, and I was surprised that I was capable of keeping up. That's again a personal best after the one in the semi-finals. My daughter is now three years old, and has been a great motivation for my comeback.'