Ruta Meilutyte fastest in 50m breaststroke heats

World record holder Ruta Meilutyte has progressed to the semi-finals of the 50m breaststroke event at the World Swimming Championships with the fastest time in the heats.

The Lithuanian swimmer was almost half a second ahead of nearest rival Alia Atkinson of Jamaica, completing the distance in 29.74s, less than 0.3 seconds outside her own world record.

Defending champion Yuliya Efimova of Russia, who had the support of the home crowd, did enough to go through in fifth.

However, Ireland's Fiona Doyle narrowly missed out on a spot in the top 16 to progress to the semis, with her time of 31.31s leaving her 17th overall.