Liu said she expected to break 200m butterfly record

Beijing: China`s Olympic champion Liu Zige expected to reclaim the women`s 200 metres butterfly world record at the China National Games after earlier almost breaking the 100 record.

"I was prepared to break the record before the race," the 20-year-old told the China Daily after she chopped more than one and a half seconds off the 200 record. "I`m still young and on the rise. If I can continue to improve, more records will fall." Liu touched in two minutes 01.18 seconds to win the event at China`s National Games in Jinan, Shandong Province, demolishing the 2:03.41 set by Australia`s Jessicah Schipper at the Rome world championships in July.The 20-year-old Liu had previously held the record when she clocked 2:04.18 to win gold at last year`s Beijing Olympics.It was the first swimming world record at the China National Games, though earlier in the week Liu finished just 0.01 seconds outside Swede Sarah Sjostrom`s world record of 56.06 in the 100 butterfly. Bureau Report