USA’s Gretchen Walsh smashes 15-year-old 50m butterfly world record

• Olympic champion beats mark set during shiny suit' era
• 21-year-old in action at Short Course World Championships

US Olympic champion Gretchen Walsh continued her sparkling year by shattering the 15-year-old world record for the 50m butterfly on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old set a mark of 24.02 in the heats of the 50m butterfly on the opening morning of the Short Course World Championships in Budapest. The previous record was held by Sweden's Therese Alshammar, whose time of 24.38 came during the so-called shiny suit" era in 2009 when records fell regularly.