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Xu Jiayu Scorches SCM 50 Backstroke World Record in 22.03

Xu, 31, took point oh six seconds off South African Pieter Coetze's mark at the Chinese National Championships; the old record was just fifteen days old.

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  1. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentXu Jiayu swam the fifty-meter backstroke in twenty-two point oh three seconds, a short-course world record, and he did it as the lead-off leg of a mixed medley relay.

  2. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThe old record was twenty-two point oh nine, set by Pieter Coetze fifteen days earlier at the Tashkent World Cup, according to Swimming World Magazine.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentFifteen days, and that's the whole reign. Roll it now. This is archive footage, not the race itself.

  4. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorLook at this, blue lights, flags all over the stands, and a crowd that has no idea it's about to watch somebody's reign end.

  5. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentWatch the flags here, the light flares right across them. That's a nice moment, and the pool just sits there.

  6. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorCoetze enjoyed a limited-time engagement as the fastest man ever, and I'm told it was a very strong fifteen days.

  7. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe margin was point oh six seconds. I'd give that a nine for the shortest reign, and I'm not showing my work.

  8. Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTashkent, then the Chinese Championships. That record has toured two countries and has not unpacked once.

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From the archive: everything BBN aired on Sunday, October 25, 2026 · the Weird News archive · all months