Qin Haiyang claims historic treble in world-record time

Star Chinese swimmer Qin Haiyang broke the men's 200-meter breaststroke world record on Friday to cap a stunning campaign at the World Aquatics Championships with his third individual gold medal in Fukuoka, Japan.

Qin, who won 50m and 100m golds in Fukuoka earlier in the week, became the first man in history to win all three breaststroke events at a single edition of the world championships, joining the pantheon of global pool legends at just 24.

Australia's former world-record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook had to settle for silver after finishing 0.92 seconds behind Qin, with the United States' Matt Fallon taking bronze in 2:07.74.

Another Chinese swimmer, 18-year-old Dong Zhihao, set a world junior record of 2:08.04 to impressively finish fourth in his world championships debut.

Also a member of China's gold-winning mixed 4x100m medley relay team on Wednesday, Qin is the first Chinese male swimmer to collect four gold medals at a single edition of the worlds, eclipsing the previous record of three titles won by freestyle specialist Sun Yang at the 2013 edition (400m, 800m and 1,500m).