Swimming: Australian duo Matt Welsh and Leisel Jones and Japan's Kosuke Kitajima all set world records on the second day of pool action in the world swimming championships in Barcelona yesterday.
Kitajima won the men's 100 metres breaststroke, Welsh the 50 metres butterfly while Jones set her mark in qualifying for the final of the 100 metres breaststroke.
In the other finals Jenny Thompson of the United States won the women's 100m butterfly and Yana Klochova of Ukraine took the women's 200m individual relay.
Kitajima trailed sixth at the 50-metre turn as Britain's James Gibson led inside the world record split but the Asian champion hit back on the return leg to win in 59.78 seconds and better the 59.94 mark set by Russia's Roman Sludnov at the last world championships in Fukuoka two years ago.
Kitajima had come within 0.04 of the world mark in Sunday's semi-finals when he clocked 59.98 and became only the second swimmer to swim the event in under a minute.
American Brendan Hansen took the silver in 1:00.21 and Gibson, the Commonwealth 50 breaststroke champion, had to settle for bronze in 1:00.37.
Olympic champion Domenico Fioravanti, silver medallist in Fukuoka, had to settle for sixth.
Welsh, best known as a world champion backstroker, shaved 0.01 seconds off compatriot Geoff Huegill's men's 50 metres butterfly world mark, clocking 23.43 in a major upset victory from the outside lane number eight. He had been the slowest qualifier for the final.
Jones, Olympic silver medallist in 2000 and silver medallist at the last world championships, clocked one minute 6.37 seconds in the semi-finals to beat the 1:06.52 mark set by South Africa's Penny Heyns in 1999.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: The absence of world championship contestants, Andrew Bree, Julie Douglas, Emma Robinson and Lee Kelleher should make life that little bit easier for potential medal winners at this weeks National championships starting tomorrow morning in Lisburn, writes Pat Roche.
An unusual aspect of this years tests springs from the fact that most swimmers will have European short course qualifying times rather than medals foremost in the mindset.
The determination to find a European qualifying mark is best seen through Irish champion freestyler Stephen Manley who contrary to an earlier suggestion opted to travel to Dublin from his Kentucky University base to compete in Lisburn rather than figure in this week's World long-course championships in Barcelona.
Manley is the current short course Irish record holder of 100 (49.48) and 200 (1:48.09) freestyle besides holding other records and will be anxious to trim both these times for European qualification.
William Carey , the talented Limerick swimmer, is set for strong bids in the 50 freestyle and butterfly events and the man who should benefit from Andrew Brees absence is local Michael Williamson in the backstroke.
