The 3:08.29 effort of a quartet from CN Marseille at Istres on December 22 is unlikely to be ratified as the world short-course record it was widely publicised to be: the swim was part of a 10x100m relay, an unofficial event, and the race never announced in advance as a 4x100m world-record attempt.

Sources told SwimNews that FINA is now considering the issue but in light of the Libby Lenton incident last April - when the Australian clocked a sizzling 52.99 sprint over 100m freestyle in a lane next to Michael Phelps in Sydney - there is little scope for loose interpretation of the rulebook.

Fabien Gilot, Gregory Mallet, Romain Caffet and Frederick Bousquet clocked the 3:08.29 at a club competition in Istres. The fastest time in the world before that was 3:08.85 by a quartet from Auburn University (also never ratified), while the world record belongs to Sweden at 3:09.57. One ripe for the taking, it seems - under the right circumstances.