SWIMMING AND DIVING / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Darnyi Sets World Record in 400 Individual Medley

Hungary got its second world-record performance in as many days as Tamas Darnyi won the men’s 400-meter individual medley Tuesday at the World Swimming Championships, taking 2.39 seconds off the world mark.

Darnyi, who has held the world record in the men’s 400 IM since August, 1987, lowered his record to 4 minutes 12.36 seconds. Norbert Rozsa of Hungary won the 100 breaststroke in world-record time Monday.

“If the conditions had been better, I could have gone one to one and a half seconds faster,” he said.

Eric Namesnik was second in a U.S.-record time of 4:15.21, .36 seconds better than the mark he already had lowered twice this season.

U.S. swimmers continued their disappointing performances by not winning any gold medals, but they could be in position to rebound today after heats late Tuesday.

Janet Evans, the one-time world beater who now attends Stanford, won a silver medal in the 200 freestyle as Australia’s Hayley Lewis edged her by .19th of a second. The U.S. men’s 800 freestyle relay team also won a silver, finishing behind Germany.

Evans and Matt Biondi, America’s stars of the 1988 Olympics, eased into today’s finals in which they are world record-holders.

Evans qualified for tonight’s women’s 400-meter freestyle in 4:14.64. The triple gold-medalist at Seoul was the second-fastest in heats, behind Lewis, who was timed in 4:13.16.

Biondi, winner of five Olympic golds at Seoul, dominated the heats in the men’s 100 freestyle.

He was the only swimmer in seven heats to crack the 50-second barrier, going 49.59 in the last group and pulling Stephan Caron, a relative unknown from France, to the second-fastest time, 50.34. Biondi’s world record is 48.42, and he won the world title in 1986 with a meet-record 48.94.

Anthony Nesty of Surinam, the gold medalist at the 1988 Olympics, won the 100-meter butterfly by edging 1984 Olympic champion Michael Gross of Germany.

Elena Volkova of the Soviet Union won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2:29.58.

The U.S got its second gold medal when twins Karen and Sarah Josephson won the synchronized swimming.