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HUNGARY - Frenchwoman Laure Manaudou scored an easy victory while Croatia's Sanja Jovanovic and a German women's relay team set world records at the European short-course championships on Saturday.
Manaudou took the 400 metres freestyle, the event she won at the 2004 Olympics and the title she is hoping to retain in Beijing next year.
She built a significant lead early and comfortably held it for the rest of the race.
"This is my first serious 400 since the world championships (in March)," Manaudou told reporters.
Manaudou, the subject of controversy earlier this year over her decision to leave Italy and return to France, said she was pleased to be back home training under the guidance of her brother.
"I'm very happy with our collaboration. I feel very happy and at ease," she said.
Manaudou opted to compete in only one event on Saturday, rather than the three she originally planned, in order to focus on her best discipline.
She declined to say how many medals she was eyeing in Beijing and whether she would similarly focus on her top events at the Olympics.
"That would give too much information to my opponents," said Manaudou.
Jovanovic, who took silver behind Manaudou in the 100 backstroke on Friday, took the 50 backstroke in a world record 26.50 seconds, shaving 0.31 seconds off the previous best.
The German women's 4x50 medley team also set a world record, the sixth of the championships, clocking one minute 46.67 seconds.
Hungary's Laszlo Cseh seized gold in the 200 butterfly, his third title in three days.
Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski took the lead on the last lap and only a late surge saved the day for the Hungarian, who had been in front early.
"Going out hard was my weapon, otherwise it might not have been enough to win," Cseh said.
Sweden's Stefan Nystrand failed in his quest for a double in the sprint events as France's Alain Bernard took the 100 freestyle.
Nystrand was nearly a second off his world record set a month ago.
- REUTERS
