ATLANTA The United States set a short-course world record in the first event and raced to a commanding lead over Europe after Day 1 of Duel in the Pool.
Led by Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin, the Americans won 12 of the 14 events Friday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center and are well on their way to staying unbeaten in the Duel series with a 93.5-28.5 lead in the points.
The tone was set in the opening event, the women’s 400-meter medley relay. Coughlin got the Americans off to a quick start in the backstroke, Rebecca Soni blazed through the breaststroke, Dana Vollmer kept it going in the butterfly, and the 16-year-old Franklin finished strong in the freestyle for a time of 3 minutes, 45.56 seconds.
That crushed the previous record of 3:47.97, set by the Americans at the 2009 Duel in the Pool just before high-tech racing suits were banned by the international governing body.
Franklin, a junior at Regis Jesuit High School, said the Americans were eager to take down the record after barely missing it at the short-course world championships last year.
“It was amazing and so special,” Franklin said. “It was great to come back and get it. It sets us up really well for next summer.”
The European squad — Daryna Zevina of Ukraine, Rikke Moeller Pedersen of Denmark, Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark, and Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands — was never a factor, touching in 3:51.04.
“We have four really great girls in that relay,” Coughlin said. “We were confident going in, and that definitely helped us get the world record.”
Franklin, after trailing the first 150 meters, overtook Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds in the final 50 to win the 200 backstroke in 2:00.14 — 0.11 seconds behind her world-record mark set in October.
Lochte won the men’s 200 backstroke in 1:48.90, 1.22 seconds ahead of Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki.
The Associated Press
