Olympic champion and world record holder Pieter van den Hoogenband finished in sixth place in the 100 metres free style final at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne on Thursday.

‘It was my best time this year but it was not a special performance,’ Van den Hoogenband said after the race.
Nevertheless, his time was just 0.2 of a second outside the winning time of 48.43 hit by both Italy’s Filippo Magnini and Canada’s Brent Hayden who shared the gold medal. Van den Hoogenband has never won gold at the World Championships.
In other events, the Dutch women’s 4×200 relay team set a new national record on their way to the final of that event but went on to finish in eighth place.
Marleen Veldhuis qualified in fifth place for the finals of the 200 metres freestyle.