ABU DHABI Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Florian Wellbrock took victory in the men's 1,500m freestyle by breaking the world record on Tuesday as the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) concluded here with four world records.
Earlier at the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival, held in parallel with the Short-course Worlds, Wellbrock won the 10km open water swim.
The 24-year-old German was even more dominant in the pool, clinching the 1,500m freestyle title in 14:06.88, more than four seconds faster than second-placed Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui and 1.18 second faster than the world record held by Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri since 2015.
The long-distance specialist had made the same achievement two years ago by bagging home both the 1,500m freestyle and 10km open water title at the Long-course Worlds in Gwangju, South Korea.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer, Wellbrock triumphed in the 10km open water event and finished third in the 1,500m freestyle final.
Olympic champion Margaret MacNeil proved her superiority in the women's 100m butterfly by winning the final in 55.04 seconds.
But the 21-year-old Canadian was even more amazing in the 50m backstroke final on Monday as she sliced 0.33 off the world record to win her first individual gold at short-course worlds in 25.27 seconds.
Besides, Siobhan Bernadette Haughey from Hong Kong, China broke the women's 200m freestyle world record on the opening day and the women's quartet from Sweden equaled the 4x50m medley relay world record on the following day.
More than 900 athletes from 183 countries and regions took part in the competition.
The 16th edition of the Short-course World Championships will be held in Kazan, Russia next year. Enditem
