Swimmer Sarah Price, daughter of former Bermuda residents John and Anne Price, smashed the world 200-metre short course backstroke record less than two hours after a new mark had been set.

Price, whose parents worked for the Bank of Bermuda in the 1970s, was competing at the Australian Short Course Championships in Perth, Western Australia at the weekend.

Australian Clementine Stoney had clocked two minutes 5.83 seconds on Sunday to beat the old record of 2:06.9 set by China's He Cihong in 1993.

But 90 minutes later Briton Price stole her thunder. Swimming in the Consolation B final she touched the wall in 2:04.44.

It capped a splendid weekend for Price who broke her own British record in the 100 metre event, then shattered the British, Commonwealth and European record in her 200 metre heat.

"Because the Australian had swam first I had seen that result on the (worldwide) web," her mother said. "So when she phoned I said `Oh, Sarah there was a world record wasn't there, the Australian girl got the world record'. She said `No, mum I did' so I said `No, no Sarah the Australian got it' and she said `No mum I did'."

The team had been to Japan and although Price had achieved the qualification time for the 200 metres there, she was third in the pecking order for a pair of places and two team-mates were chosen ahead of her.

"She was very angry about that and felt `Well, I have got something to prove here'," her mother said.