BUDAPEST, July 31 - Germany set a world relay record to give the European swimming championships a rousing finish to the opening day of the main pool action on Monday.

The day began with Laure Manaudou fading way off the pace in the heats of the women's 400 metres individual medley, an event the 19-year-old Frenchwoman had been strong favourite to win in the absence of title-holder Yana Klochkova, Ukraine's Olympic champion.

It ended with a German quartet breaking the women's 4x100 metres freestyle world record set by Australia at the Athens Olympics and with Italy bagging their second title of the evening in the concluding men's 4x100 freestyle relay.

Petra Dallmann, Daniela Goetz, Britta Steffen and Annika Liebs clocked three minutes 35.22 seconds to beat the women's relay mark of 3:35.94 set by Australians Alice Mills, Libby Lenton, Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry on August 14, 2004.

Alessia Filippi profited from Manaudou's failure to win the 400 individual medley and claim the first of Italy's two titles, while Russia's Yuri Prilukov produced a powerful late surge to win the men's 400 metres freestyle and take the first pool gold.

The German women crowned the evening with their world record, with third swimmer Steffen producing the fastest split of 52.66 seconds.

"It can't have been me -- I still can't grasp and believe that I clocked 52.66," she said.

"I didn't feel well before the race but after the heats this morning we set our eyes on the world record."

The Netherlands took silver in 3:37.04 and France bronze in 3:38.83.

PRILUKOV CONFIDENCE

Italian Massimiliano Rosolino set a fierce pace in the men's 400 and led by nearly three seconds at the halfway mark but world short-course champion Prilukov reeled him in, charging past on the final length in the 50-metre Alfred Hajos outdoor pool to claim the title in a championship record 3:45.73.

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