28 October 2019

Australian teenager Minna Atherton breaks 55 second barrier in 100m backstroke - the first woman to do so

Australia's Minna Atherton has become the first woman to go under 55 seconds in the 100m backstroke as she stormed to victory at the International Swimming League in Budapest.

The 19-year-old set the first world record in ISL history as she clocked a time of 54.89 to claim her third title of the meet having already won the 200m and 50m backstroke crowns.

She surpassed the previous record set by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu of 55.03 which came at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships.

Atherton shaved almost four seconds off her own silver medal winning time of 58.85 at the world championships in South Korea earlier this year.

After the race, the record breaker said: "It's amazing, I can't really believe it. I just gave it a red-hot crack."

The ISL referred to the teenager on Twitter as 'out of this world' as the two-day event came to a close.

The swimmers now move on to the next meet which takes place in the USA in three weeks time.

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