Chinese swimmer Xu Jiayu breaks men's 100m backstroke Asian record

Xu Jiayu, Chinese backstroke specialist.[Photo: Sina Weibo]

Backstroke specialist Xu Jiayu broke the Asian record of the men's 100m backstroke at the Chinese Swimming Championships on Wednesday.

Xu, 21, took the gold of the event in 51.86 seconds, only 0.01 shy of the world record and sliced a big margin from the previous Asian record of 52.24 seconds.

As a first time Olympian, Xu took the silver medal of the event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in 52.31 seconds.