LONDON - American Rebecca Soni broke the women's 200m breaststroke world record with a time of 2min 20.00sec in the semi-finals at the London Olympics on Wednesday.

Olympic champion Soni reached the final in emphatic style as she bettered the previous world record of 2:20.12, set by Canadian Annamay Pierse in July 2009 in Rome.

Soni, who earned silver in the 100m breaststroke here, took charge from the start and separated herself from the rest of the field to reclaim the world record she held before Pierse broke it three years ago.

"I felt there was no pressure," Soni said. "I just wanted to feel it and see how it went. I just went for it."

Japan's Satomi Suzuki, bronze medallist in the 100m breaststroke, was

second to Soni in 2:22.40.

That was the third-fastest time behind the 2:22.23 clocked by Denmark's Rikke Pedersen in winning the other semi-final ahead of Russian Yuliya Efimova.

"Anything can happen tomorrow so I'll save my best for that," Soni said.

"I'm really excited -- I just have to do it one more time."

Soni's was the the second world record set on Wednesday night, after Hungarian Daniel Gyurta's record-breaking swim in winning gold in the men's 200m breaststroke.

In the first four days of swimming competition five world marks have fallen, proving that the records set in the era of high-tech bodysuits now banned by FINA likely won't dominate the books for as long as many feared.

"You'll see that records are becoming faster worldwide and it's going to be great," Soni said.

(AFP)