Olympic and world champion swimmer Cameron McEvoy has broken the men’s 50-metre freestyle world record, which had stood for 17 years. The 31-year-old Australian posted a time of 20.88 seconds yesterday at the China Open in Shenzhen, taking 0.03 seconds off Brazilian César Cielo’s previous mark. Cielo set his world record of 20.91 during swimming’s so-called super suit era in 2009. Those suits were later banned because they increased buoyancy and reduced drag, resulting in nearly 150 world records falling in 2009 before being prohibited in 2010.