Source: Xinhua

04-27-2009 11:07

PARIS, April 26 (Xinhua) -- France's Frederick Bousquet set a new world 50m freestyle record on Sunday in the French national championships in Montpellier.

France's Frederick Bousquet set a new world 50m freestyle record on Sunday, setting a time of 20.94sec and becoming the first man to beak the 21-second barrier.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Bousquet, 28, clocked a time of 20.94 seconds to become the first man to break the 21-second barrier.

Bousquet, a silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics in the 4x100m relay, smashed the previous record of 21.28 set by Australia's Eamon Sullivan in March 2008 in Sydney.

On Thursday, Alain Bernard claimed the new 100m freestyle record in 46.94.