ROME — American Rebecca Soni has set the ninth world record of the swimming championships in the semifinals of the 100-meter breaststroke.

Soni touched with a time of 1 minute, 4.84 seconds in her heat Monday. That knocked off the record of 1:05.09 held since 2006 by Australia’s Leisel Jones.
Six records were set on the opening night of the world championships, the last with high-tech bodysuits. Two more fell in the first two finals Monday, to Brenton Rickard of Australia in the 100 breast and Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in the 100 butterfly.
The biggest stunner, though, came in the 100 backstroke, where world-record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol failed to qualify for the final Tuesday.