Nakanishi, Nakamura set short-course records

Japan's Yuko Nakanishi and Reiko Nakamura set short-course (25-metre pool) world records for the women's 200 metres butterfly and 200m backstroke respectively at the Japan Open yesterday.

Nakanishi, 26, clocked a new mark of two minutes, 03.12 seconds for the women's 200 metres butterfly, slicing 0.41 seconds off the previous world record of 2:03.53 set by Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak in December last year.

Nakamura, 24, finished in two minutes, 03.24 seconds in the women's 200m backstroke, shaving 0.38 seconds off the previous world record of 2:03.62 set by American Natalie Coughline at a FINA World Cup meet in New York in 2001.

Nakamura won a bronze medal in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 and 2007 world championships and is looming as a medal contender for this year's Beijing Olympics.