MARIEKE'S $US100,000 PAYDAY WITH WORLD RECORD IN BERLIN

BERLIN, November 17: Melbourne's re-born Olympic swim star Marieke Guehrer has landed the biggest single payday in the history of Australian swimming after grabbing the $US100,000 women's first prize purse at the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup in Berlin overnight. IAN HANSON reports.....

Guehrer, 22, also became Australia's latest world record holder when she smashed Therese Alshammar's five-day old 50m butterfly world mark, setting a time of 24.99 in the final event of the Series.

She left Alshammar in her wake with the 31-year-old Swede finishing second in 25.35 - just 0.04 outside her previous world mark - but no match for the flying Guehrer.

It was easily the best performance of the meet and the best performance of the Series to wrap up the best overall performance and the $US100,000 first prize.

Australia's National Head Coach Alan Thompson was full of praise for Guehrer saying she displayed great mental strength and ability to "save the best till last."

"It has been a long, long tour, especially for swimmers like Marieke and Christian Sprenger, who have attended every meet," said Thompson.

"For Marieke to pull that world record out in the last race on the last day and with so much at stake is a credit to her - we were all so happy, a great way to finish a great tour.

"To get yourself up after seven meets, over five weeks with all the travel and ups and downs is not easy."

Guehrer received the $US100,000 bonus on offer to the overall winner of the women's series with Alshammar claiming second prize of $US50,000 with South Africa's Katheryn Meaklim taking third prize of $US30,000.

The former Brisbane backstroker disappeared into the swimming abyss after the Athens Olympics but under Melbourne Vicentre coach Ian Pope and with a renewed self belief and balanced lifestyle and attitude she is now one of the world's fastest swimmers.

She has led the Series from the opening round in Belo Horizonte - dominating the butterfly and freestyle sprints through Durban, Sydney, Singapore, Moscow and Stockholm with Alshammar throwing down the gauntlet to ensure a showdown finish.

With the final round in Berlin worth double points the overall winners cheque was always going to come down to the 50 metres butterfly and a duel with Alshammar, who had thrilled her home town crowd with the world record in Stockholm.

But the Melbourne-based university student, who has her own on line swimwear company was ready for the challenge.

It was Guehrer's 12^th World Cup win - her fifth in the 50 metres butterfly and a fitting way to end an arduous series of racing and travelling.

All up, Guehrer finished with 23 medals - 12 gold, 10 silver and one bronze - winning $US28,500.00 in individual prize money - plus a slice of the world record bonus pool - taking her overall prize pool to over $US135,000.00.

Guehrer's world record was one of 12 set during the series and the third by an Australian after Matt Jaukovic (50m butterfly in Sydney) and Robert Hurley (50m backstroke in Sydney) had etched their names into the record books - although US pair Peter Marshall and Randall Bal had subsequently lowered the mark.

In the men's series it was South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh who landed the $US100,000 from Marshall second ($US50,000) and Bal third ($US30,000).

Van der Burgh re-wrote the world record books in the 50 and 100m breaststroke as did Marshall and Bal in the 50 and 100m backstroke.

The South African, who is keen to take up a Commonwealth scholarship to train in Australia, won a total of 10 events with Sprenger, the early series leader, winning a total of 19 medals - nine gold, six silver and four bronze.

In other events on the final night, 100m breaststroke winner Sarah Katsoulis took the bronze behind Tara Kirk in the 50m breaststroke final; Hurley landed two medals - a silver to Japan's Ryosuke Irie in the 200m backstroke (1:52.29) with team mate Ashley Delaney fourth in 1:53.00.

Hurley also was third in 50m backstroke to Bal's world record swim of 22.87 with Hurley clocking 23.50 and second placegetter Marshall 22.90 - a time also under his previous world mark of 23.05 - set in Stockholm.

Sprint butterfly find and five-time 50m winner in this series, Matt Jaukovic (50.70) continued to impress, adding another silver medal in the 100m butterfly final to Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin, who set a new World Cup record of 49.74.

Queensland's emerging butterflyer Amy Smith maintained her consistency, winning bronze in the 200m butterfly in 2:06.61 in a tight finish with Sweden's Petra Granlund (2:06.00) and South Africa's Amanda Loots (2:06.60).

The other world record to go came in the 200m freestyle with German Paul Biedermann lowering Ian Thorpe's eight-year-old world mark, also set in Berlin, in 2000.

Biedermann, fifth in the Beijing Olympics to Michael Phelps, clocked 1:40.83 (24.18; 50.06; 1:15.93) - 0.27 faster than Thorpe's time of 1:41.10.