Peirsol sets 200m backstroke world record

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Aug 20 (Reuters) American Aaron Peirsol set a world record in the 200 metres backstroke at the Pan Pacific Championships while the US men's team also clocked a world mark in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Peirsol outpaced compatriot Michael Phelps to win in a time of 1:54.44, breaking his own world record by more than two-tenths of a second. Phelps clocked 1:56.81 in second and Tomomi Morita of Japan picked up the bronze in 1:58.53 yesterday.

Peirsol has posted nine of the 11 fastest times recorded in the event and is unbeaten in international competition in more than six years.

''With the backstroke you can really hear the crowd, and the crowd was great tonight,'' he said, adding that the noise at the halfway mark told him he was on record pace.

''If I can take it out that fast I can always bring it home.

I realised I had a lot left in my tank.'' The US men set a world record of 3:12.46 in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Phelps, Cullen Jones, Neil Walker and Jason Lezak eclipsed South Africa's previous record of 3:13.17 set at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Walker said the U.S. had been determined to make up for the disappointment of Athens.

''We said, 'Hey, let's bring this home, let's bring the record back home to the US where it belongs,'' he added.

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