Teen makes Russian swimming history in Rome

3 Aug, 2009 06:52 / Updated 15 years ago

Yet another four world records were shattered on the final day of the FINA world championships in Rome, with Russia's Yuliya Efimova being among the heroes.

Russian swimming history was made in the Italian capital on Sunday.

Having settled for silver in the 100 meters breaststroke, 17-year-old Efimova gave no chance to her rivals in the 50-meter event.

She stormed to victory in a world record time of 30.09 seconds, shaving 0.14 seconds off the previous best, set less than a month ago.

Efimova became the first Russian female swimmer ever, and the first Russian since 2003, to win a world title in the pool.

While it was yet another record and gold number five for Olympic legend Michael Phelps.

He starred in the 4 x 100 meters medley relay, as team USA grabbed their 11th gold of the championships to top the overall standings, with Russia in third behind China.

The Americans capped off the historic tournament that saw an incredible total of 43 world records tumble.