Hungary Surges On at Record Pace : Swimming: Tamas Darnyi shatters his own world record in 400 individual medley, while Australian Hayley Lewis edges past Janet Evans in 200 freestyle.

Tamas Darnyi gave Hungary its second world record in 24 hours and Janet Evans was narrowly beaten by Hayley Lewis in the women’s 200 freestyle today at the World Swimming Championships.

Darnyi, undeterred on a windy night in the Perth Superdrome, shattered his own 400 meters individual medley world record and became the first swimmer to retain an individual title at these championships.

Commonwealth champion Lewis, the slowest qualifier for the women’s 200 freestyle, beat triple Olympic champion Evans, of Placentia, by just 0.19 seconds in the final for Australia’s first gold.

“I could really hear the crowd in the last 15 meters because I turned to breathe and heard the cheers,” said the 16-year-old Lewis, once one of her American rival’s greatest fans. “Then I just put my head down and went for it.”

The United States got its second gold medal of the championships when twins Karen and Sarah Josephson of Bristol, Conn., won the synchronized swimming duet with a world best of 199.762 points.

Yelena Volkova gave the Soviet Union its first Perth win in the women’s 200 meters breast stroke.

For the second day in a row it was a Hungarian who provided the outstanding performance.

After 18-year-old Norbert Rozsa emerged from obscurity to claim the men’s 100 meters breast stroke title and a world record Monday, it was Darnyi’s turn to shine.

Darnyi, who has won all his major championship 200 and 400 individual medleys since 1985, surged home in four minutes 12.36 seconds, chopping 2.39 seconds from the world mark he set in winning Olympic gold in Seoul in 1988.

“I wasn’t counting on such a good time. It was in an open-air pool, the wind was blowing and it was cold,” Darnyi said.

American Eric Namesnik followed Darnyi with a U.S.-record time of 4:15.21, trimming 0.36 seconds off the mark he already had lowered twice this season.

“It’s good enough,” said Namesnik, who trailed Darnyi through the final three strokes and never had a chance once the final freestyle leg started. “I tried to catch him but he was too far ahead.”

Michael Gross of Germany narrowly missed beating Olympic champion Anthony Nesty of Surinam in the 100 meters butterfly but achieved a great personal ambition in anchoring newly united Germany to victory in the men’s 4x200 meters freestyle relay.

Gross, the champion at 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle in both 1982 and 1986, stretched his world championship medal tally to an unprecedented 11 as he realized his goal of winning a major relay race.

The lanky 26-year-old Gross unfurled his huge arm span in the 100 butterfly and swept away from his rivals down the first length, only to be denied gold by just 0.02 seconds as Nesty finished strong.

Gross, Olympic champion in the 100 butterfly in 1984, had to settle for silver.