BARCELONA, July 21: Australian duo Matt Welsh and Leisel Jones and Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima all set world records on the second day of pool action in the world swimming championships on Monday.

Kitajima won the men’s 100 metres breaststroke, Welsh the 50 metres butterfly while Jones set her mark in qualifying for the final of the 100 metres breaststroke.

In the night’s other finals Jenny Thompson of the United States won the women’s 100m butterfly and Yana Klochova of Ukraine took the women’s 200m individual relay.

Kitajima trailed sixth at the 50-metre turn as Britain’s James Gibson led inside the world record split but the Asian champion hit back on the return leg to win in 59.78 seconds and better the 59.94 mark set by Russia’s Roman Sludnov at the last world championships in Fukuoka two years ago.

American Brendan Hansen took the silver in 1:00.21 and Gibson, the Commonwealth 50 breaststroke champion, had to settle for bronze in 1:00.37.

Welsh, best known as a world champion backstroker, shaved 0.01 seconds off compatriot Geoff Huegill’s men’s 50 metres butterfly world mark, clocking 23.43 in a major upset victory from the outside lane number eight.—Reuters