ALIA Atkinson collected her second silver medal at the 11th FINA World Swimming (Short Course) Championships yesterday at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 24-year-old Olympian, who went under the old championship record, clocked a new national record of 1:03.80. She erased her old mark of 1:04.69 set last month at the Canada Cup.

Lithuanian 15-year-old sensation Ruta Meilutyte won in new a championship record of 1:03.52 to secure her second gold, smashing American Rebecca Soni previous meet mark of 1:03.98 set in Dubai on December 18, 2010.

Denmark’s Rikke Moeller Pedersen earned the bronze in a time of 1:04.05.

A psychology major from Texas A&M, Atkinson got her first silver in the 50m breaststroke on Thursday and just missed out on a medal Friday when she placed fourth in the 100m individual medley,

Atkinson has so far put Jamaica in 17th place, led by United States, with Hungary in second and Germany third in terms of quality of medals.

Ten records and one world record have so far been broken at the championships.

American Ryan Lochte demolished the lone world record in men’s 200m medley with a time of 1:49.63. He lowered his old world record of 1:50.08 established two years ago in Dubai.

Atkinson will seek to end the championship on the high, hopefully saving her best her last, when she takes part in her final event, the 200m breaststroke.

He will compete in heat three of five with a seed time of 2:26.37. Her personal best, however, is 2:21.65 set two years ago.

The top seed in this event is Denmark’s Rikke Pedersen.

Some 800 swimmers from more than 150 countries are taking part in the World Short Course Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, with a winner earning US$5,000, second place US$3,000 and third place US$,2000. An additional US$15,000 will be won for a world record.

The male and female swimmer of the championships will be announced at the end today.