Jefimova showed the best form in the heats at the Adam Peaty Race London International, and in the final put in a time of 2:25.59, improving by 0.43 seconds her own PB, and the domestic record, of 2:26.02.

"Three out of three! I've broken all my personal breaststroke records this year and I'm very happy about that," Jefimova said post-race.

"We've been swimming a lot of volume in training lately, which probably means endurance is better. Normally I feel that 200 meters is too long for me, but today I felt really good, and that shows a solid foundation is in place for the summer championships," adding that the work in London is still not done: On Sunday she has the 100-meter final, then the 50-meter on Friday.

Only Britons Angharad Evans (2:24.34) and Abbie Wood (2:25.54) finished ahead of the Estonian.

Men's swimmer Ralf Tribuntsov, who also set a new Estonian record in the 50-meter freestyle heats, finished sixth in his final with a time of 22.36.

He said: "I was very satisfied with the morning; I gave it my all, and it still felt a bit raw. I think I have room to swim even better in freestyle. The evening swim was too late for me. For an old guy like me, a 10 p.m. start is just too late. I'm definitely looking forward to the [Sunday] backstroke."

Daniel Zaitsev came second in the B-final with a time of 22.93, while Morten Hein's seventh in the boys' 100-meter breaststroke final (1:08.56) and Inessa Sorokin ninth in the girls' 50-meter freestyle final (27.22) were the other Estonian finishers.

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