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Unus Alladin

Australia's teenage sensation Grant Hackett took out the frustration of his country's disqualification in a relay event by slashing almost five seconds off the world mark in the men's 400 metres freestyle at the fourth World Short-Course Championships last night.

 On a day when three world records were shattered, Hackett was pushed all the way to the finish by teammate and record holder Ian Thorpe, who also finished inside his old mark of three minutes and 39.82 seconds, set in Perth last year.

 Hackett touched the boards in 3:35.01 to beat Thorpe, who set a world record of his own on Thursday, in the 200 metres freestyle.

 Thorpe clocked 3:35.64, while Italy's Massimilliano Rosolino was third in 3:42.81 last night.

 Hackett was angry that his country were disqualified from the men's 4 ? 200 metres relay in the morning because the team swam differently to their starting order.

 Australia had rested their best swimmers in the heat - Thorpe, Hackett and Michael Klim - so they would be fresh for the finals and have a fair crack at breaking the world mark at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

 But a mix-up in the Australian poolside management meant that Matt Dunn, who swam last in the heat, was actually down to swim third.

 Hackett, Thorpe, Dunn and Klim would have been scheduled to swim in the relay final, but instead had to stay on the sidelines.

 The 18-year-old Hackett, who holds the world short-course record in the 1,500 metres freestyle, decided it was payback time as he swam one of the races of the year.

 'I didn't expect to break the record by 4.8 seconds with Thorpe gunning behind me. It's a big achievement. It was a great swim and I feel pretty good,' said Hackett, who broke the long-course world record in the 200 metres freestyle in Australia last week.

 'I showed the world that I can do it [break world records] again. All the times are going to get lowered, especially as we get nearer to Sydney next year. We are taking seconds off world records now and I think we are just going to have to keep maintaining our success.'  Earlier, Australian head coach Don Talbot admitted that his team had been careless to get disqualified from the relay.

 'Certainly there's fault with us. The rule is very clear. We broke the rules and so it [the appeal] was dismissed,' said Talbot.

 'It was an error in communication. I'm very disappointed. However, you've got to rebound. Some of the swimmers will handle it well, some won't. I think we would have broken the world record by a considerable amount,' he added.

 World record holder Mark Foster of Britain beat a star-studded field to grab the men's 50 metres freestyle gold and establish himself as the meet's fastest swimmer.

 Foster won in a time of 21.81 seconds to pip Argentina's Jose Meolans, who clocked 21.84. The Netherlands' Mark Veens was third in 21.88.

 Russia's four-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov was a disappointing fifth but has a chance for revenge in his favourite event in tomorrow night's 100 metres freestyle, of which he is the world record holder.



Hackett in class of his own