Britain's Gemma Spofforth set a world record to claim gold in the women's 100 metres backstroke final at the world championships Tuesday.

Spofforth clocked 58.12 seconds to beat the mark of 58.48 that Russia's Anastasia Zueva set in the semi-finals.

Zueva took the silver after finishing just 0.06 of a second behind the Briton, with Australia's Emily Seebohm claiming bronze.

Zueva was leading after 50 metres and Spofforth credited her late mother for helping her come from behind to win.

"My mother got me there over the last 15 metres," Spofforth told reporters.

Olympic champion and 2007 world champion Natalie Coughlin of the United States was not competing.