Aquatics: England's Baker smashes 50m breaststroke record

8.20am

MANCHESTER - England's Zoe Baker demolished the women's 50 metres breaststroke world record when she clocked 30.57 seconds in the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.

New Zealand-based Baker hurtled through the one-length race to smash the previous mark of 30.83 set by South Africa's Penny Heyns at the Pan-Pacific championships in Sydney in August 1999.

After reaching Wednesday's final in style, she said: "My aim was to go for the world record in the semi-final and then tomorrow I can just aim for the gold medal."

"I felt I could do something special and I did."

Baker had broken her own European record when she swam 31.03 in the morning's heats. She held the short-course world record for the distance earlier this year but Tuesday's swim was her first world mark in an Olympic-sized pool.

- REUTERS

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