Grant Hackett shattered Ian Thorpe's 800 metres freestyle record at the World Championships on Wednesday to join his Australian rival as the only swimmers to win six individual world titles.
Hackett demolished his rivals to take gold in seven minutes 38.65 seconds, slashing more than half a second off the mark set by Thorpe at the 2001 World Championships in Japan, when the pair engaged in an epic battle.
"It's always a great feeling to break any world record but to break one of Ian Thorpe's is special because it has extra credibility," Hackett said.
"I already have the 1500m world record and I thought I really should have the 800m as well because it's in my range, it's really my forte."
Hackett's record took the spotlight away from Michael Phelps and overshadowed a remarkable performance by German doctor Mark Warnecke, who became the oldest world champion in history.
Warnecke turned back the clock to pull off a shock win in the men's 50m breaststroke final and claim a first world title at 35, an age when most top swimmers have long retired.
The oldest world champion before him was Russian Alexander Popov, who won the freestyle sprint double in Barcelona two years ago at 31.
"People have been asking me for 15 years when am I going to quit," smiled Warnecke, whose previous best result was the 50m breaststroke title at the 2000 European Championships.
Solenne Figues provided France with their second gold of the championships when she timed her burst to perfection to win the 200m freestyle while Pawel Korzeniowski of Poland took full advantage of Phelps's absence from the 200m butterfly with an all-the-way victory.
But none of their performances came close to the astonishing display by Hackett, who produced one of the finest displays of endurance swimming ever.
