Rio de Janeiro, April 10 (IANS): Swimmer Leonardo de Deus has recorded the world's fastest 200m butterfly time of the year to take gold at the Brazilian Championships here.
The 24-year-old clocked one minute and 55.19 seconds to finish ahead of Kaio Marcio (1:56.99) and Marcos Ferrari (1:58.66) at the Fluminense pool on Thursday, reports Xinhua.
The time eclipsed the previous 2015 best of 1:55.39 set by Denmark's Viktor Bromer in March.
"To get this time less than a year and a half before the Olympics gives me a lot of motivation," Deus said.
Thursday's performance guarantees Deus a berth in the event at August's World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
He is also due to contest the 400m freestyle and 200m breastroke in Rio this week.