Manaudou is the female Phelps, says Van Almsick

PARIS, Mar 29 (Reuters) German Franziska van Almsick hailed Laure Manaudou as the female equivalent of Michael Phelps after the Frenchwoman smashed the 200 metres freestyle world record at the world championships.

Manaudou claimed her second gold medal in Melbourne when she clocked one minute 55.52 seconds in the 200m freestyle final, beating Italian Federica Pellegrini's short-lived world record by 0.95 seconds.

Pellegrini, 18, had erased Van Almsick's five-year-old mark the day before by swimming the distance in 1:56.47.

''Federica (Pellegrini) beat the record in the semi-finals but I mostly want to talk about Laure. What she did is simply amazing,'' Van Almsick told French sports daily L'Equipe today.

''1:55.52, I cannot find the words. I felt my record would be broken before the Olympics but I did not think it would be smashed like this.

''Laure impresses me and not only in 200 metres. She has a unique potential. She is the feminine version of Michael Phelps,'' the German added.

''And I am not even sure she swam the perfect race. She is technically skilled, there is no doubt about it, but she is mostly determined.

''I once said there was a secret to swim a good 200 metres freestyle. There could not be a better swimmer than Laure to find it.'' American Phelps broke Ian Thorpe's men's 200 metres freestyle world record on Tuesday.

REUTERS SAM BD1448