24 April,2009 10:46 AM IST | | AFP
France's Olympic champion Alain Bernard set a new 100m freestyle record yesterday with a time of 46.94sec, becoming the first man to smash the symbolic 47-second barrier.
His new record, set here at the French national championships, beat the previous best of 47.05sec set by Australia's Eamon Sullivan during the Beijing Olympics.
The Frenchman had been the second man to break the 48-second barrier in Eindhoven back in 2008 at the European championships, just behind Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband, where he also broke the world record twice.
Yesterday's performance was Bernard's fourth world record of his career.
However, it remains to be seen whether the record will stand as Bernard's new swim suit, supplied by Arena since January, has not yet received approval from the International Swimming Federation.
If the suit is not approved, the record will not be validated.
Bernard had already announced after the Olympics that it was his intention to smash the 47-second barrier.
"I knew when I came here the conditions were good to achieve something," said Bernard.
"It gives me a lot of pleasure. To be the first under 47 seconds, it's mythic."
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