Swimming: Hunter Armstrong breaks 50m backstroke world record

Armstrong took nearly a tenth of a second off the previous world record

Armstrong set a new world record in North Carolina on Thursday (Getty Images)

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.

Reuters