ROME — Germany’s Britta Steffen and the Netherlands relay team have kept up the record breaking at the world championships, setting the fifth and sixth marks on the opening night of swimming.

Steffen broke the record for the 100-meter freestyle with an opening leg of 52.22 seconds in the 400 free relay, beating her own mark of 52.56 set last month. In relays, the leadoff swimmer can also be credited with an individual record.
Steffen’s great start wasn’t enough. The Dutch women, with Magdalena Veldhuis on the anchor leg, won in 3 minutes, 31.72 seconds, beating their own mark of 3:33.62 from 2008. Germany (3:31.83) and Australia (3:33.01) also eclipsed the old record.
Italy’s Federica Pellegrini sent the home crowd into a frenzy with her record-breaking win in the 400 free.