ATHENS, Greece - Inspired by the American men's narrow relay victory 24 hours earlier, the U.S. women did them one better - breaking the oldest record in swimming.

They erased the 800-meter freestyle world mark by 21/2 seconds in winning Olympic gold for the third consecutive games Wednesday night.

"We're some tough chicks," said Kaitlin Sandeno, who swam the final leg and touched the wall in 7 minutes, 53.42 seconds, lowering the record of 7:55.47 set exactly 17 years ago by East Germany.

"It's a huge deal," said Natalie Coughlin, who led off for the Americans with a faster time than the gold-medal performance in the 200 freestyle.

Their performance capped a spectacular fifth night of swimming at the Olympic pool.

Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands repeated as the Olympic champion in the 100 freestyle, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima completed a sweep of the men's breaststroke events, and Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland won her third medal in Athens with a victory in the 200 butterfly.

And, for one night, the U.S. women didn't have to share the spotlight with Michael Phelps. The teenager didn't swim in a final Wednesday, although he advanced to the 200 individual medley final with an Olympic-record time in the semifinals.

The American women won the 800 free relay 24 hours after Klete Keller held off Aussie Ian Thorpe by 13-hundredths of a second in a thrilling men's relay.

The Chinese women took the silver, while Germany edged out Australia for the bronze by just five-hundredths of a second.

Even Aussie Petria Thomas, who swam her team's final leg, was happy to see the mark obliterated.

"It was a pretty old one and perhaps a little bit tainted," she said. "It's great it's been broken."

The East Germans set the relay record at a French meet on Aug. 18, 1987. Two years later, the Communist government collapsed, revealing evidence of massive doping violations that had been suspected for years.

"It burned people a lot, and we all know the reason why," U.S. women's coach Mark Schubert said. "We're very proud to have that record back."

Another world record was set in the semifinals of the women's 100 freestyle. Australian Jodie Henry won her heat in 53.52, lowering the mark of 53.66 set by Lisbeth Lenton at the Australian trials in March.

None of the American women realized the relay record had belonged to the East Germans. Not surprising, since 16-year-old Vollmer of Fort Worth, Texas, was three months from being born when it was set. Coughlin, of Concord, Calif., and Sandeno, of Lake Forest, Calif., are 21, and Piper of Grosse Point, Mich., is 20.

"I knew I could lead off with a really great swim," Coughlin said. "I got really excited, especially when I was passing all the other girls."

Sandeno had never before swum a relay internationally, so Coughlin calmed her down on deck during the race. "I was like, `Don't blow this, Kaitlin,'" Sandeno said.

Carly Piper followed Coughlin into the water, then gave way to Vollmer and Sandeno, who had finished fourth in the 200 butterfly final 45 minutes earlier.

"It shows how strong we are, how much depth we have," Sandeno said, adding that there's nothing suspicious about the Americans' performance. "We're clean as can be."

The United States is 3-0 in the 800 free relay since it was added to the Olympic program in 1996.

"I didn't expect that margin of victory, but Natalie's swim getting us out there in the beginning was the key to that," Schubert said.

Van den Hoogenband won his second straight gold in the 100 free by overcoming South Africa's Roland Schoeman with a furious sprint to the finish.

"It's so much harder to defend your title," he said. "To win again after four years is such a big relief."

The 100 final lacked some familiar faces. Two-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia failed to get out of the semifinals and American Gary Hall Jr., who won bronze in Sydney, didn't even qualify at the U.S. trials. His teammates, Jason Lezak and Ian Crocker, were eliminated in the preliminaries.

Van den Hoogenband's winning time was 48.17, just ahead of Schoeman's 48.23. Thorpe rallied for the bronze, his fourth medal of these games and ninth of his career.

Kitajima added the 200 breaststroke title to the 100 race he won Sunday, making him the first Japanese to win two golds at an Olympics. He set an Olympic record of 2:09.44.

After Kitajima's win in the 100, American backstroker Aaron Peirsol accused the Japanese star of using an illegal dolphin kick at the start of the race. Officials found nothing wrong with his technique.

"I don't care about the controversy, although it did motivate me to win this race," Kitajima said.

Daniel Gyurta of Hungary took silver in 2:10.80. Hansen, who was second in the 100 breast, earned bronze in 2:10.87.

"I am disappointed because I have the record and not the (gold) medal," Hansen said. "It's unfortunate that the run-up to the Olympics took something out of me."

Jedrzejczak won the 200 butterfly in 2:06.05. Thomas won silver - a reversal of their finish in the 100 fly. Japan's Yuko Nakanishi earned bronze.