Shane Ryan sets two more Irish record at World Short Course Championships

Shane Ryan became the first Irishman to go under 47 seconds in the short course 100m freestyle as he reached the semi-finals of the event at the World Championships in China.

Ryan bettered Jordan Sloan's previous Irish mark of 47.84 by nearly a second as he clocked 46.97 in the heats.

The 50m backstroke bronze medallist from Friday then clocked 46.93 in the semi-finals which put him 12th overall.

Ryan, 24, missed out on a final spot by 0.40 seconds in Hangzhou.

The Pennsylvania native was ninth fastest in the morning heats as he competed in the short course 100m freestyle for the first time since 2013.

South Africa's 2012 Olympic 200m butterfly champion Chad le Clos led the qualifiers with a time of 45.89 seconds with France's Mehdy Metella the eight qualifier in 46.53.

Prior to his first-round heat, Ryan also helped the Irish 4x50m relay quartet set a new national record.

Ryan was joined by Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene and Brendan Hyland as they clocked 1:35.05, which cut 0.58 off the record set at last year's European Championships.

The time left the team in 10th place overall and confident going into the 4x100m version of the event on Sunday where they will look to break the Irish record of 3:45.66 set in 2001 by a team that included Olympians Adrian O'Connor and Gary O'Toole.

Also on Saturday, Darragh Greene improved his 50m breaststroke personal best to 27.43 seconds.