Egerszegi Sets Backstroke Record

ATHENS —  Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi shattered the women’s 100-meter backstroke world record Thursday with a time of 1:00.31 at the European Swimming Championships.

Egerszegi, who broke the meet record earlier in the day, swimming 1:01.22 while qualifying for the finals, was ahead of the pack at the 50-meter point in the final and broke the record of 1:00.59 set by East Germany’s Ina Kleber in 1984.

The 17-year-old has won both events in which she has competed in the championships and is favored to win the 200-meter backstroke, in which she is the European champion. She also will swim the 200-meter butterfly. Egerszegi won the 400-meter individual medley Tuesday with a time of 4:39.78.

In men’s swimming, Alexander Popov of the Soviet Union matched the European record in winning the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.18 seconds.