Rome, 28 July (AKI) - Italy's Federica Pellegrini, world record holder of the 400-meter freestyle and gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics appears to have no rivals. The swimmer is the first woman to swim 400 metres in under four minutes (3:59.15).

She smashed her old world record during the 13th FINA swimming world championship, being held in the Italian capital Rome.

In a recent interview, Pellegrini (photo) said that she wanted to try and swim against men to further improve her performance.

Pellegrini is from the northern Italian town of Mirano, located in the province of Venice in the Veneto region



Photo: Xinhua