China makes swimming history

Li Wei (above) and Luo Xuejuan made history

Chinese swimmers Luo Xuejuan and Li Wei have broken a world record simultaneously.

At a meeting in Shanghai, the two touched the wall together to set a new short-course mark of 30.56 seconds.

The previous best of 30.60secs was set by South Africa's Penny Heyns in September 1999.

China's swimmers made up the bulk of the Shanghai event's competitors and dominated the meeting.

The Chinese women's contingent smashed three short course world records, starting with Chen Hua in the women's 800m freestyle and Li Hui in the women's 50m backstroke on Sunday.

Chen, 19, won her race in 8min 15.15secs breaking a 14-year-old short course record set by former East Germany's Astrid Strauss.

Her compatriot Li Hui, 16, bettered the world record with a time of 26.83.

Chen and Li Hui repeated their strong performances on Monday, pulling far ahead of the field to win the women's 400m freestyle and women's 100m backstroke, respectively.