Amaury Leveaux of France celebrates after setting the world record in the men's 100m semi-final during the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka December 12, 2008.

    PARIS, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- French swimmer Amaury Leveaux set a new world record in the men's 100-meter freestyle on Saturday with 44.94 seconds at the European short-course championships in Rijeka, Croatia.

    Leveaux beat Olympic champion Alain Bernard's previous record of 45.69 seconds by 0.57 seconds and also broke the 45.12 seconds he swam in the semifinals on Friday.

    Leveaux said he was expected to beat the world mark.

    On Thursday, Leveaux established a new 50m freestyle short-course world record of 20.48 seconds in Rijeka, where he gained his first two international titles.

Amaury Leveaux of France celebrates after setting the world record in the men's 100m semi-final during the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka December 12, 2008

Amaury Leveaux of France sports his tattoo as he celebrates after setting the world record in the men's 100m semi-final during the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka December 12, 2008.