French swimmer Alain Bernard has reclaimed the 100m freestyle world record from Australia's Eamon Sullivan.

Bernard became the first man to smash the symbolic 47-second barrier when he set the new 100m mark on Thursday with a time of 46.94sec.

His new record, set here at the French national championships, beat the previous best of 47.05sec set by Sullivan during the Beijing Olympics.

The Frenchman had been the second man to break the 48-second barrier in Eindhoven back in 2008 at the European championships, just behind Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband, where he also broke the world record twice.

Thursday's performance was Bernard's fourth world record of his career. He had briefly held the 100m world record in Beijing, clocking 47.20 in his semi-final, but Sullivan took it straight back. Bernard then completed his remarkable rise from obscurity by winning the Olympic final.

However, it remains to be seen whether the record will stand as Bernard's new swim suit, supplied by Arena since January, has not yet received approval from the International Swimming Federation.

If the suit is not approved, the record will not be validated. Bernard had already announced after the Olympics that it was his intention to smash the 47-second barrier.

"I knew when I came here that the conditions were good to achieve something," said Bernard. "It gives me a lot of pleasure. To be the first under 47 seconds, it's mythic."

Bernard's coach Denis Auguin believes there is more to come from the swimmer.

"His strength is his work and his desire to be a world champion," said Auguin.

"I felt at 75m that something was going to happen. I don't feel that the record is due to the material. The only thing I know is that he is capable of swimming this speed."

AFP