Hui Qi, who last year finished fourth in the 200m breaststroke at the Sydney Olympics broke the World Record in the event last friday with a time of 2:22.99 at the Chinese National Cahmpionships taking place in Hangzhou, China. She also managed to win the womens 200 IM in a time of 2:13.62.

The previous record in the 200 breaststroke was 2:23.64 set by Penny Heyns of South Africa in 1999.

Earlier this year Qi picked up the top performance awards on two legs of the World Cup circuit in Shanghai and Paris. She also broke the womens's 200 breaststroke short course World Record at the Paris meet.

Her performances on the World Cup circuit earned her the 2nd, 4th and 14th best performances during the series and earned her $48,000 US in prize money from FINA.