HONG KONG Olympian Robyn Lamsam broke her second national record of the Pan-Pacific Championships in Kobe, Japan, yesterday. After setting a new mark of two minutes 05.30 seconds in the women's 200 metres freestyle on Thursday, the 16-year-old student followed up by clocking 58.42 seconds in the B final of the 100 metres freestyle. The time beat her own Hong Kong record of 58.67 by a quarter of second and earned her fourth place in the consolation final. Like the previous day, Lamsam swam a slow heat, finishing fifth in 59.10 seconds, but improved significantly in her second swim of the day to set a new personal best. Lamsam will swim the 400 metres freestyle today and plans a pre-breakfast workout to sharpen her up for her heat. ''I don't seem to be able to wake up in the morning,'' said Lamsam. ''That's been the big difference here. I'll get up at six o'clock in the morning and have a swim before breakfast, so hopefully that will wake me up before my heat.'' As for her time in the 100 metres freestyle, Lamsam added: ''I was happy to break the record but it was not as good as I expected.'' Her Hong Kong teammate Michael Wright, an East Asian Games bronze medallist in the 50 metres freestyle, clocked a slow 53.67 seconds to finish eighth and last in his men's 100 metres freestyle heat. American swimmers generally dominated, as world record holder Jenny Thompson won the women's 100 metres freestyle and Jon Olsen took the men's event. The 20-year-old Thompson, the Barcelona Olympic silver medallist, was timed in 55.25 seconds, above her world mark of 54.48. Australian Susan O'Neill came in second in 55.80, followed by Angel Martino of the US in 55.97. Olson took the men's 100 metres freestyle in 49.73 seconds. America's Anita Nall took the women's 100 metres breaststroke with a meet record of 1:09.11, bettering the old mark of 1:09.70 set by Keltie Duggan of Canada in 1989.
