South African Cameron Van Der Burgh won the men's 50m breaststroke world title on Wednesday, breaking the world record for the second time in two days with a time of 26.67 in the World Championship final.

Van Der Burgh had set the bar at 26.74 in the semifinals on Tuesday, and followed up with a victory over Brazil's Felipe Silva and American Mark Gangloff.

He also became the first South African to win a gold medal at the competition and before he went up to collect his medal he said he hoped not to cry on the podium.

"I'm really happy, I can't get the smile off my face," he said. "I can't wait to hear my national anthem in a couple of minutes, I just hope I don't cry like a girl."

Van Der Burgh said little should be read into the time he set.

"Records are meant to be broken and medals are forever. Even if someone breaks my world record, I'll still have the medal at home and the world champ title for the next two years.

"It's the first for South Africa here and my first world championship title so I'm just very excited and can't get the smile off my face."