ESSEN - Johannes Dietrich broke the European record in the men's 50 metres butterfly, finishing in 22.62 seconds at the German short-course championships on Friday.

Dietrich, 23-year-old from Wiesbaden, bettered his own mark of 22.64 set in the morning heats.

Before his perfomance the record was held by Ukraine’s Sergiy Breus who set 22.86 at the World championships in Manchester on april 12 this year.

European record evolution (Time, Name/Nationality, Place, Date):
22.62 Dietrich Johannes GER Essen 28.11.08
22.64 Dietrich Johannes GER Essen 28.11.08
22.86 Breus Sergiy UKR Manchester 12.04.08
22.87 Foster Mark GBR Sheffiedl 17.01.01
23.29 Frolander Lars SWE Athens 19.03.00