MOSCOW, August 3 (R-Sport) – Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova set a new world record in the 50m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona on Saturday.
The 21-year-old won the eighth qualification heat of the distance, clocking 29.78 seconds, 0.02 seconds faster than the American star Jessica Hardy's swim of 2009.
Efimova's achievement completes the set of women's breaststroke records broken in Barcelona, as 16-year-old Ruta Meilute of Lithuania set the fastest 100m time ever with 1:04.35 minutes on Wednesday and Denmark's Rikke Pedersen clocked 2:19.11 minutes in the 200m semifinal on Thursday.
"I was preparing yesterday and I wanted to break this record badly," Efimova said. "Today, I haven't even warmed up and got the record. Women's breaststroke has recently made a huge leap forward, we've broken all these records at the world championships. This is just crazy."
The fourth world record of the competition was set by U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky, also just 16, who registered 15:36.53 minutes at the 1,500 meter freestyle distance on Tuesday.
Efimova won gold at the 200m distance on Friday, adding it to the London Olympics bronze at the event. She won the silver in the 100m on Tuesday.
The 50m semifinals are later Saturday, with the final scheduled for Sunday
