Russia’s Yuliya Efimova broke the women’s 50m breaststroke world record on Saturday morning, the fourth record to fall at these world swimming championships in Barcelona.
Having won the world 200m breaststroke title on Friday night, the 21-year-old Efimova clocked 29.78secs in the morning’s 50m heats at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi pool, shaving just two hundredths of a second off the four-year-old record set by Jessica Hardy of the USA.
Efimova was the fastest into Saturday evening’s semi-finals and will be looking to add the sprint gold to her 200m world crown and 100m silver with the 50m final to come on Sunday on the last day of the championships.
This is the third women’s breaststroke world record to fall in Barcelona and the fourth in total — all set by women.
Lithuanian teenager Ruta Meilutyte broke the 100m breastroke record in the semis on her way to winning the gold and Denmark Rikke Moller Pedersen set a new 200m breastroke mark in the semi-finals before finishing second to Efimova.
USA long-distance star Katie Ledecky of the USA also took nearly six seconds off the 1500m freestyle record.
Both of Hardy’s breaststroke records over 50 and 100m have now fallen in Barcelona.
Russia's Efimova breaks world 50m breaststroke record
