France's Muffat dips just under world record

Olympic champion Camille Muffat missed the world 400m freestyle record by just one hundredth of a second on Sunday as she stormed to victory at Berlin's short-course World Cup meet. The Nice-based swim star came home in 3mins 54.93sec, a new World Cup record, to complete the set having won the 200m final on Saturday. Having led from the front, her halfway split was under the world record, but she just failed to sustain her impressive pace in the final phase. "It's not the end of the world. There will be more opportunities," said Muffat ahead of next month's European Championships in Chartres, France. "I started faster than usual. I tackle the 400m short-course as a long sprint." There was drama in the women's 100m final when local favourite Britta Steffan over-hauled Jessica Hardy of the USA a few metres from the end to take gold in 52.88sec, while Hardy touched the wall,just 0.12sec behind. Australia's Jessica Morrison finished third at 53.31sec, but Hardy showed her all-round talent by winning the 50m breaststroke final comfortably. France's Olympic star Yannick Agnel capped a good day in the pool for the French when he won the men's 200m freestyle final after he held off Germany's world record-holder Paul Biedermann. Agnel's burst of acceleration in the last 40 metres made the difference as he touched the wall in 1min 42.10sec, just outside his personal best. "I wanted to swim this final in the same fashion as the heat: start slowly and end fast, and I did it. I am also very happy with my time," said Agnel. Biedermann said he had to improve on his current form and acknowledged he had been beaten by a "a world-class swimmer like Agnel". South Africa's Darian Towsend won the men's 200m Individual Medley final in 1min 53.44sec ahead of Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Japan's Daiya Seto. Australia's Rachel Goh dominated the women's 100m backstroke final to dominate the race in a winning time of 57.02sec from Brazil's 37-year-old Fabiola Moline, who swam 58.87sec with America's Kaitlyn Jones third. Anthony Ervin of the USA backed up Saturday's 100m freestyle gold by winning the 50m final in 20.85 sec ahead of Trinidad's George Bovell and third-placed Australia Matthew Targett. "This was my personal best time, and an American record too. Berlin was very good for me," said the 31-year-old Californian. Japanese swimmers dominated the women's 200m breaststroke final as Rie Kaneto took gold in 2mins 19.96sec while Mio Motegi was second at 0.61sec behind. It was the same story in the men's 200m backstroke final as Yuko Shirai won in 1min 49.94sec having edged Ayate Matsubara by more than a second with Australia's Ashley Delaney third in 1min 52.82sec.