Maltese swimmers competing on the first day of the 13th World Championships in Rome yesterday were off to a relatively positive start when they broke two national 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay records in the male and female categories.

The girls team, made up of Nicol Cremona, Melinda Sue Micallef, Davina Mangion and Talisa Pace, finished their morning heat in 4 minutes 02.99 seconds, 1.92 seconds inside the previous record. They ended in 24th place out of 31 entries.

The boys' team, composed of Neil Agius, Edward Caruana Dingli, Andrea Agius and Mark Sammut, clipped a good 4.35 seconds off the previous mark when stopping the clock on 3 minutes 42.69 seconds. They were classified in the 34th position out of 41 entries.

Earlier in the morning, Neil Agius finished fifth in his 400 metres freestyle heat in 4 minutes 16.10 seconds, 0.78 seconds outside his own national record, while Mangion did 1:05.41 in the 100 butterfly.

Agius was classified in the 72nd place out of 94 entries and Mangion was 78th out of 102 competitors.

Sammut clocked 28.25 seconds in the 50m butterfly, finishing 171st out of 201 entries.