Greece’s Apostolos Christou set a new Championship Record during the semifinal of the Men’s 100 backstroke at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest and now heads as the top seed into the Men's 100 Backstroke final tomorrow night.
Christou swam to a time of 52.09 breaking the previous championship record of 52.17 set by China’s Jiayu Xu back in July 2019.
Christou was out in a 25.26, the fastest first 50 in the field. He came back in a 26.83, the second-fastest of the field of 16. The only swimmer that was faster on the second 50 was second-place finisher Thomas Ceccon who was second behind Christou in heat 2.
Today’s swim for Christou also set a new previous national record for Greece. Christou held the old record of 52.77. He swam that time back in May 2021 at the European Championships which also took place in Budapest.
In addition to holding the Greek National Record in the 100 breast, Christou also holds the Greek National Records in the 50 back (24.49), 100 freestyle (48.39), and 200 back (1:57.09). Christou is also on the Greek National Record holding 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relays.
Notably, Christou did not make the semifinal in the 100 backstroke at last year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He is now heading into the final as the top seed tomorrow night
