Eamon Sullivan scorched the clock and burned off rivals in the pool at the Olympic trials in Sydney and those watching from around the world with a semi-final world-record effort of 21.41 in the 50m freestyle.
In the wash, Ashley Callus, 29, with a lifetime best of 22.12 and in a bygone world, Matthew Targett, third through to the final on 22.42.
The extraordinary events in Sydney get ever more extraordinary. The Australian sprinter has taken the 50m event into a new era with a time that sets a standard fit to send rivals either back to the drawing board or to through the door marked 'retirement'. Sullivan's 21.41 shaved 0.09sec off the standard set in Eindhoven by Alain Bernard (FRA) last week, and was 0.15sec inside the Australian's world record from February, which marked a 0.44sec improvement for one of the most extraordinary gains in the history of sprint swimming at world-record pace, though one that came off a big build up of times just beyond the 22sec mark from 2006 onwards. There is no doubt that Sullivan has put in some serious race practice and achieved a high level of consistency on his way to the big drop.
Here's the new all-time Top 10:
And here is how Sullivan has swept to the helm of the sprint crew, from a best of 22.99 in 2004, looking at the best 25 times in his portfolio:
Now take a look at a comparison between Australia and the whole European continent, showing that those at the helm sit art the crest of a wave of swimmers sweeping up the all-time rankings: Sydney semi-final
Was a time not long ago when a 2:21.34 from Leisel Jones would have been the sensation of the session. Not with Sullivan in town. Jones split the 100m in 1:08.25 and put in a closing 50m of 36.52. The victory was achieved on every lap of the race. Sally Foster's silver lining and Olympic selection in 2:25.70 was achieved off a split of 1:10.15 and a homecoming 50m of 37.95.
The 200m backstroke battles - final (men) and semi-final (women) - both produced Australian records. Hayden Stoeckel, 23, clocked 1:56.75 for a victory that took him well inside the 1:57.59 national standard that had survived to Matt Welsh's favour since he lifted the silver medal at Sydney 2000. Welsh, having missed selection at these trials, has announced his retirement after a long and glittering career in long- and short-course arenas.Stoeckel's effort in the final came off a 56.98 half-way split, compared to a 56.24 for 21-year-old Ashley Delaney, who claimed the second berth in Beijing with a 1:57.53 effort. Stoeckel is now equal 11th on the all-time list after a sizeable personal improvement. His previous best time of was set at these trials, before that he had a 1:58.62 best from February this year, his 2007 best was 2:01.72, a time that was a step back from the a best of 2:00.42 in 2006.
The women's final went to Meagen Nay, 19, in an Australian record of 2:10.01, ahead of 15-year-old Emily Seebohm, on 2:10.51, Belinda Hocking third through just 0.1sec behind. A thrilling final in prospect. Nicole Livingstone would doubtless have been at hand to watch the passing of a record she had held at 2:10.20 since winning bronze at the 1992 Olympic Games behind the legendary Krisztina Egerszegi (HUN).
The 200m medley berths went to Leith Brodie, 21, who cracked the 2-minute mark with a 1:59.90 effort that left him 0.24sec shy of Ian Thorpe's national record from 2002, and Adam Lucas, 24, on 2:01.84.
Andrew Lauterstein, 20, blasted a 52.05 in the 100m butterfly semis, ahead of Adam Pi9ne, 32, on 52.14. The amazing nature of these trials continues apace. If Lauterstein had a pre-trials best of 52.53 and at 20 could be expected to start making in-roads on what has gone before, consider the other end of the spectrum: Pine's best two years ago was 52.71. There are, it seems, no limits of any kind in the pool at this moment in time.