BROOKE'S LOOK AT ROMA 09 DAY ONE

July 27: Day one finals in Rome at the FINA World Swimming Championships witnessed a staggering six new world records created as swimmers and swim suits battled for first medals in the pool.  BROOKE HANSON reports...

The saying goes that records are meant to be broken but I couldn't help but feel deflated to see one of the legends of swimming lose his world record over night.

In 2002 I witnessed what I thought was the greatest world record in swimming when my team mate Ian Thorpe swam 3.40.08 at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. It was a record that I believed would stand the test of time but that all changed today.

As the eight men lined up for the final of the 400m freestyle I still believed Thorpe's time would prevail over the new suit technology. Three swimmers took the lead and it wasn't until the final 50m that the record looked like falling.

With an entry time of 3.48, Paul Biedermann of Germany came into the championships with the eleventh fastest time of the year. He swam a personal best time in the heats of 3.43.01 to qualify first for the final.

The final saw Biedermann replace Thorpe in the record books, beating the Aussie legend's time by 0.01 of a second - the smallest margin in swimming - after he steamed home in the final 75 metres.

Well done to Biedermann, it was his first world championship gold medal and first world record but the question is how much did the Arena super suit help his performance? I can't help but think how much faster Thorpie would have swum if he had the chance to put on one of these high-tech suits.

Joining Biedermann with a world record was Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, who also suited up in Arena to smash the oldest women's world record in the 100m butterfly semi-final. Sjostrom beat Inge De Bruijn's world record of 56.61 set at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, stopping the clock at 56.44.

The 15-year-old who trains in the USA at the University of Southern California will have another chance to better her time in the final.

Other world records to fall on day one included:

Women's 200m Individual Medley

Ariana Kukors USA 2.08.53 (Jaked Suit)

Women's 400m Freestyle

Federica Pellegrini Italy 3.59.15 (Jaked Suit)

Women's 100m freestyle relay (lead off)

Britta Steffen Germany 52.22 (Adidas)

Women's 4x100m freestyle relay

Netherlands 3.31.72