SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Eamon Sullivan says world records will continue to fall in the blue riband 100-metres freestyle as his new rivalry for sprinting supremacy intensifies with French sensation Alain Bernard.

The pair have the swimming world in a buzz over their assault on the world records in the 50m and 100m freestyle events leading up to what promises to be one of the showstoppers of the Beijing Olympics in August.

The 22-year-old Aussie set it off with an unexpected world record in the 50m freestyle here last month erasing Russian great Alex Popov's 2000 standard from the record books.

Bernard took it further, breaking Pieter van den Hoogenband's 100m world record at the European championships in Eindhoven, and reducing it again to 47.50 seconds to win last Saturday's final.

And for good measure, 24-year-old Bernard got under Sullivan's new record of 21.56secs in the 50m with 21.50secs in his semi-final of the event last Sunday.

Sullivan jumped into the pool again on Wednesday and missed Bernard's 100m world record by just two-hundredths of a second in qualifying for the Olympics at the Australian trials.

Australia's latest swimming superstar was annoyed at failing to trump Bernard's time, hitting the wall in 47.52 seconds.

"It is hard to get so close. I guess it has been playing on my mind the past 24 hours. I was really hoping just to find a little bit more, it is a bit of a shame," he said.

But such is the frenetic one-upmanship by the pair that more world records are likely in the months ahead.

"There are so many guys out there swimming that fast and it only takes two swimmers for everyone to start realising that it is not impossible and it is just going to be a landslide from now on," Sullivan said Thursday.

"The 47 (seconds) is the old 48 and the 48 is the old 50 ... sprinting is really seeing a new generation and it is really being revolutionised by a few people and times are going to continue dropping."

Sullivan conceded missing the world record may ease the pressure on him going into the Olympics, although he doesn't know if the mark will stay still between now and August.

"I think there are positives and negatives," Sullivan said.

"It might make it a bit easier going in and you never know between now and then it might get broken again. In an Olympic year, people are swimming so fast you never know what's going to happen."

Sullivan is more than half a second quicker over 100m at the national trials, but first he had to learn to slow down, according to his coach Grant Stoelwinder.

"We have all seen Eamon leading a race at the 75 or 80m mark and tightening up," Stoelwinder said.

"He was using too much energy in his first few strokes and that meant he didn't have enough left for the end.

"So instead of a stroke rate of 56 or 57 (per minute), we brought him down to 52 and now his velocity is even higher, he's got much more in reserve and he holds his stroke length better.

"He's taking two less strokes on the way back and one less on the way out."

With that improvement in efficiency has come a series of racing breakthroughs.

Stoelwinder said he would be disappointed if Sullivan's performance was all put down to the new Speedo LZR Racer suit.

"It's the suit they always wore, with a bit of teflon on it," he said.

"I think people have to believe that this is an Olympic year and we would be expecting that this is going to happen.

"If this wasn't happening we would think there was something wrong. We are giving the suit more credit than we are the athletes."