An Australian street performer has set a new Guinness World Record by swallowing 18 swords at the same time.

Chayne Hultgren, aka The Space Cowboy, swallowed the blades, 72cm long, in Sydney this morning.

The 31-year-old said he was thrilled to have made history. "It's amazing...I've been preparing for this since I was 16," he said.

Hultgren beat his own previous record of 17 swords - also a Guinness World Record - which he set in 2008.