Cape Town - South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh beat his own world record in the 50m breaststroke heats at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia on Tuesday.
Van der Burgh, defending his title, clocked 26.62 seconds to shave 0.05 seconds off his own record he set at the 2009 championships in the era when the performance-enhancing neoprene suits were still permitted.
Britain's Adam Peaty had swum exactly the same time of 26.62 seconds at the European championships in Berlin last August, but the time has not yet been ratified by swimming's governing body FINA.
The 50 breaststroke is not an Olympic event.
Meanwhile on Monday, Van der Burgh won silver in the 100m breaststroke. He was beaten by Britain's Adam Peaty, who out-touched Van der Burgh by 0.07 seconds to claim the title in a time of 58.52 with the South African hitting the wall in 58.59.