O'Neill wins record 34th Australian championship

O'Neill wins record 34th Australian championship

Sydney, May 16: Susie O'Neill claimed a 76-year-old record in winning the 200 metres freestyle in fast time at the Australian Olympic swimming trials on Tuesday.

Beaurepaire, a triple Olympian, won 33 National titles between 1908 and 1924 in a phenomenal career that was blighted by Australian swimming rules at the time and World War I.

O'Neill first thought she had beaten the record at the 1998 Commonwealth Games trials in Melbourne when she won her 30th title. But four more Beaurepaire titles were discovered to take his tally to 33 and force O'Neill to bide her time.

O'Neill's Commonwealth record of 1:57.47 in Monday's 200m Freestyle semi makes her the fifth fastest woman in history over four laps and the best in the world in at least the past 18 months.

She was off that time in Tuesday's final but was clearly conserving energy for her 200m Butterfly semi-final scheduled six races later.