FINA World Championships: Italy's Thomas Ceccon breaks world record to win 100m backstroke

Thomas Ceccon of Italy won the gold in the 100m backstroke event at the FINA World Championships and broke the world record in the process with a time of 51.60.

Thomas Ceccon of Italy won the gold in the 100m backstroke event at the FINA World Championships and broke the world record in the process with a time of 51.60.

Thomas Ceccon of Italy won the gold in the 100m backstroke event at the FINA World Championships and broke the world record in the process with a time of 51.60s in Budapest on Monday.

Coincidently, Ryan Murphy, who won the silver in the race was the previous world record holder with a timing of 51.85s set at Rio Olympics in 2016. His compatriot Hunter Armstrong won the bronze.

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“Yesterday I swam 52.1, very easy,” Ceccon said. “I am feeling good in water and just doing my race, staying calm and focusing on my race. And that’s it.”

Murphy finished second, 0.37 seconds behind, followed by compatriot Hunter Armstrong, 0.38 behind Ceccon.

“Hats off to Thomas,” Murphy said of seeing his record beaten. "That’s a really, really fast time and it’s going to be an exciting couple of years.”

(with inputs from AP)