Ruta Meilutyte has broken the 100m breaststroke world record at the World Championships in Barcelona.

The 16-year-old Olympic champion came agonisingly close to breaking the record in her heat this morning, finishing just 0.07 seconds off Jessica Hardy's time from 2009 to clock the second-fastest time in history.

She went one better this evening, however, completing the swim in a time of 1:04.30 to claim the record.

The Lithuanian, who trains in Plymouth, will take part in tomorrow's final, but admits that winning the gold medal would simply be a bonus after her historic swim.

"I'll have a relaxing day tomorrow and save all my energy for the final. My biggest aim is accomplished now and I'll give it my best shot in the final," Meilutyte told reporters.

"[Breaking the record] is one of the steps, one of the dreams. Obviously, a gold medal would be a cherry on top of the ice cream."

Meilutyte's swim this evening saw her shave over a second off her Olympic gold medal-winning time last year.