(Reuters) – Hunter Armstrong set a world record in the men’s 50 metres backstroke at the U.S. swimming trials to earn a berth at the world championships in Hungary in June.
Armstrong clocked a time of 23.71 to shave 0.09 seconds off Russian Kliment Kolesnikov’s previous mark of 23.80 on Thursday.
“I’m at a loss for words, honestly. It’s something that I’ve always wanted and I’m just … I’m over the moon right now,” the American said.
“I’m so blessed to compete at this meet with the best athletes in the world, and I don’t think I would have been able to do that without racing them.”
Seven-times Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel won the men’s 100m butterfly.
The world championships will run from June 18 to July 3 in Budapest.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
