Ironwoman Manaudou shows mettle

MELBOURNE, Mar 28 (Reuters) French ironwoman Laure Manaudou had started to look distinctly rusty as the burden of bidding for nine gold medals seemed to weigh heavily at the world swimming championships.

After storming to 400m freestyle gold on Sunday, she surprisingly missed out in the 100m backstroke today, beaten by a world record from American Natalie Coughlin, and minutes later finished flat last in the 1500m freestyle final.

But the 20-year-old showed herself to be the most versatile woman in swimming today with her first major 200m freestyle title in a world record time which even she admitted was a surprise.

''I am happy because I know I will break the 400 freestyle record (again) one day, the 200 was a bonus,'' the Olympic champion told reporters.

Swimming in lane two after a conservative semi-final, the Olympic 400 free champion kept the charging German Annika Lurz at bay, finishing in one minute 55.52 seconds.

She sliced almost a second off the record set by Italy's Federica Pellegrini the previous night. Lurz finished in 1:55.68 to clinch silver with Pellegrini having the consolation of a bronze following her short-lived record.

Like others before her in Melbourne this week, Manaudou took inspiration from Michael Phelps, who had earlier in the evening shattered the men's 200m butterfly record on the way to his third gold.

''With Phelps beating a world record just before, I told myself I had to do it too,'' she said. ''Now I can only do better.

''For me I am much better at the 400, today was an exception. I know I had to keep in line with everyone else and knew the first 100 would be tough. Winning the 200 will help me with my 400.'' Manaudou admitted her heavy schedule had taken its toll today and her decision to pull out of her 50m backstroke semi-final came as no surprise. She conceded her lame run in the 1500 had been a sacrifice.

''Yesterday was a difficult day for me and that was why I gave up the 50m backstroke to focus on my 200 and I am really happy I made that decision.

''It's a record that I've been chasing since Budapest (the 2006 European Championships). I sacrificed the 1500m free and the 50m backstroke for this record. ''It will be very different at Beijing to here, there will be more pressure in the 400.

There have been better swimmers in the 200m these last two years so I will do my best.'' Manaudou starts her tilt at a final individual medal in the 800m freestyle heats on Friday, and few would predict against another world record in Saturday's final.

REUTERS SAM KP1850