Mitch Larkin has become the first Australian to break an individual world record in the post-supersuit era with a stunning swim in the 200m backstroke final at the Australian Short Course Championships in Sydney.
Larkin's 1:45.63 was more than half a second faster than the previous record of 1:46.11, set six years ago by Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin.
On a remarkable night for Australian swimming, Cameron McEvoy also equalled the Commonwealth time in the 200m freestyle final, breaking Ian Thorpe's 15-year national record.
Long-distance swimmer Jess Ashwood was another who continued her hot run of form, adding a personal best in the 400m freestyle final to the 800m and 1500m titles earlier in the meet.
Her time of 3:59.23 was the first time she had beaten the magical four-minute mark, setting a new all-comers record.
But the spotlight belonged to the country's current king of the pool in Larkin who, having also broken the Australian 50m backstroke record the previous night, immediately turned his attention to proving his ability in the longer form.
"I'm probably in a bit of shock, to be honest, to finally realise what I've done," Larkin said.
"(But) it is short course. I'd really like a long course one, but they're steps to that as you go. I'm pretty happy."
The blue-ribbon achievement caps off a remarkable year for the 22-year-old, who left his rivals for dead in recent World Cup events in Tokyo, Dubai and Doha, as well as the World Championships in August at Kazan in Russia.
"It's crazy. You look back on the year and you think, 'Did that really happen in six months?'.
"I asked (coach Michael Bohl), 'What have I done differently to get this? How am I swimming this fast now?'.
"And he attributes it to a bit of confidence, and I got that from Kazan."
Fellow backstroker Emily Seebohm also cracked the all-comers record with a time of 55.46 in the 100m backstroke final, as did Cate Campbell's 23.79 in her 50m freestyle title win.
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