He broke the world mark set last year by George Asanidze of the former Soviet republic of Georgia at the European Championships. I am No. 1 now. I have no excuses,'' said Olympic 50 freestyle gold medalist Gary Hall Jr. after placing second behind South Africa's Roland Schoeman in the one-lap sprint. But the World team never trailed, sending the Americans a surprising double loss in the relays on the night. Under the dual meet format, individual races offer five points for a win, three for second and one for third.
Relays give seven points only to the winning team.
Hackett also won the 200 as Australia finished first in 15 of the 17 races - Poland's Bartosz Kizierowski's won the 50 freestyle and the 50 backstroke to provide Europe's only wins of the night. Coaches saved their star swimmers for races later in the meet. After six individual specialties for men and four for women in artistic gymnastics, China and Russia each had three golds. Australia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria had one each. Competition to decide the top all-around gymnasts comes Saturday and Sunday.