Olympic champion Ian Thorpe claimed his 12th individual world record yesterday when he demolished the 800 metres freestyle mark at the Australian national championships.

He continued where he left off at last year's Sydney Olympics, setting a world record of seven minutes 41.59 seconds in his first major competition since the Games.

"It was a night for Gladiators," Thorpe said, referring to Australian-raised Russell Crowe's best actor Oscar.

Thorpe's time shattered the previous record of 7:46.00 set by fellow Australian Kieren Perkins at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, by almost four and a half seconds.

It was his first world record over a long distance. Remarkably, Thorpe was making his first serious attempt at the 16-lap event and had to swim the final less than 20 minutes after his 200 metres semi-final.

Australian head coach Don Talbot said he expected Thorpe to lower the record even further at the world championships.