Brazilian swimmer Felipe Franca breaks world record in 50m breaststroke

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- For the first time at the Maria Lenk Trophy swim meet, a Brazilian swimmer broke a world record.

Felipe Franca broke the record in his performance on Friday in the 50 meters breaststroke. Using a new swimsuit, the athlete set the new mark at 26.89 seconds.

Franca broke the record set by South African swimmer, Cameron Van Der Burgh, who clocked in at 27.06. Franca has had his eyes set on breaking the record since last year.

Since last year, I have been thinking about the world record. This may have led me to lose my focus. I think that was the reason behind my poor performance in the Olympics, declared Franca, who placed 22nd in the 100 meters breaststroke in Beijing last year. The 50 meters breaststroke is not disputed in the Olympics.

The Brazilian earned his spot in the World Championships in Rome later this year. With his record-breaking performance on Friday, he is listed among the favorites to win the event at the World Championships.

Despite his stellar performance, Franca admits that there is plenty of room to improve. He also claims that he no longer fears American swimmer Michael Phelps.

Cesar Cielo guarantees spot at World Championships of swimming

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 6 (Xinhua) -- In the 50 meters freestyle event at the Maria Lenk Trophy swim meet, Cesar Cielo won on Wednesday with a time of 21.33 seconds. The victory and time are good enough to guarantee his participation in this year's World Championships in Rome.

Wearing an old suit that had to be cut in the hamstring at the last minute in order to provide room for the athlete, Cielo came close to his gold medal winning performance in Beijing last year. He stated that the new world record of 20.94 seconds set by Frenchswimmer Fred Bousquet, is not as far away as he imagined.

"I was surprised with my time today. I now see that the world record is closer than I thought and not as scary as I had imagined. My race today had its flaws. I needed to take some extrabreaths that ended up slowing me down. There is definitely the possibility of bettering my time and chasing the world record," analyzed Cielo after Wednesday's competition.

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David Merlini breaks worlds submerging record

DavidMerlinikeepssubmerginginacrystalwatertankinManama,capital
ofBahrain,April26,2009.MerlinisubmergedSundayinthatcrystal
watertankforatotaltimeof21minutesand29seconds,which
transcendedtheoriginalworldrecordof18minutesand3.69seconds.
(Xinhua/ZhangNing)

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Spaniard Blanco beats 50m butterfly world record

MADRID, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Spaniard swimmer Rafael Blanco Sunday beat the world record of 50m butterfly, timing 22.43 seconds in the Spain's championship held in Malaga, south of Spain.

The previous mark was held by South African Roland Schoeman in 22.96 seconds at the World Cup Montreal 2005. The European record was 23.11 seconds, set up by Serbian Minorad Capic.

Blanco is the first European swimmer to reduce the barrier of the 23 seconds in 50 meter butterfly.

Blanco, 21, had also achieved the second best record in history of 100m butterfly with a time of 50.58 seconds, with this he is coming closer to the best swimmers of the world.

My goal is to get the world record, today I did it in 50 meter butterfly, but my real goal is to achieve it on 100m, Blanco said.