WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Swimmer Ryan Murphy of the United States won the men's 100m backstroke title at the Swimming World Championships (25m) on Tuesday and he said he had no pressure of expectations.

"That was super close. It wasn't the cleanest race for me, but it's good to be tough and to race the best," said Murphy, who claimed the gold with a time of 49.23 seconds.

"I think everyone is in good spirits. A lot of us haven't really raced short-course meters before so we're kind of coming in with no expectations, which takes a lot of the pressure off. So I'm just coming in, having fun and racing," he added.

Chinese swimmer Xu Jiayu won silver on 49.26 while Kliment Kolesnikov from Russia took bronze with 49.40.