THE CANADIAN PRESS
BERLIN -- Vancouver swimmers Tanya Hunks and Brent Hayden are leaving Berlin with a gold medal and another Canadian-record performance.
Hunks captured gold in the women's 400-metre individual medley at a World Cup on Sunday, for her first international victory, while Hayden dipped below the world short-course record en route to winning silver in the men's 200-metre freestyle in Canadian-record time.
Paul Biedermann of Germany shattered his own world mark in the 200 freestyle, swimming one minute 39.37 seconds -- one of 16 world records that fell over two days of racing in Berlin as swimmers continue to rewrite the record books before the high-performance suits are banned on Jan. 1.
Hayden followed in 1:40.80, also under Biedermann's previous world mark of 1:40.83 set last year.
Hayden topped his Canadian record of 1:41.65 he set Wednesday at the World Cup in Stockholm.
"My goal was to go under the world record and I'm very happy about it," said Hayden. "It was a case tonight that Paul swam better than me.
"The middle part of my race much better than in Stockholm and I showed a lot of strength on the final length. I knew at the 100-metre mark that Paul was right with me and he would be very tough to beat the rest of the way. But I kept my head in the race and brought it home."
Darian Townsend of South Africa took the bronze. American star Michael Phelps, wearing an old-style swimsuit and with little practice, failed to make the final.
Hunks won the 400 I.M. gold in 4:30.52 for her second medal this week on the circuit. Anastasia Ivanenko of Russia was second in 4:31.13, and American Julie Stupp took the bronze in 4:31.34.
"It's exciting to start the season like this and see what I can do," Hunks said. "I had my best ever breaststroke split and this time I didn't over-swim the backstroke like I did in Stockholm.
"I've only been back in the water for five weeks. It's great that I can pick-up where I left off last summer."
Tom Johnson, head coach of the national training centre in Vancouver, said Hunks is only about 85 per cent ready.
"So this is a really good indicator that she will have a strong 2010 season," Johnson said. "She really believes in the work and training and it's paid off here."
Hayden has captured six medals -- two gold and four silver -- in his three stops on the World Cup circuit. He bettered his Canadian record in the 100 freestyle three times and in the 200 free twice.
"Overall I did much better than I expected," said Hayden. "I was sick the week before I left and hadn't trained as much as I would have liked. Basically I had no idea what was going to happen but getting the medal and Canadian record in the 100 freestyle in Moscow got the ball rolling."
Johnson was impressed with his star swimmer's performances.
"This experience coming over here, getting a feel for the world scene, winning some medals and going fast is exactly what he needed to kick-start a new season," the coach said.
Townsend broke the world record in the 200 I.M. Sunday, while Biedermann also broke the 400 freestyle record Saturday.
Several other swimmers broke two records in two days in Berlin: Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa in the men's 50 and 100 breaststroke; Shiho Sakai of Japan in the women's 100 and 200 backstroke; and Leisel Jones of Australia in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Those records followed the nine that were set in Stockholm earlier this week as swimmers continue to rewrite the record books before the high-performance suits are banned on Jan. 1. More records are likely to be broken at the upcoming World Cup meet in Singapore, the European short-course championships and an all-star meet in December.
-- With files from The Associated Press.
