A 19-Year-Old Just Shattered One of Michael Phelps’ World Records
After 18 years, Michael Phelps is no longer the world record holder in the 200m butterfly.
19-year-old Kristof Milak of Hungary impressed spectators at the FINA world championships in South Korea on Wednesday, swimming a time of 1:50.73 — beating Phelps’ world record by .78 seconds, according to the Olympic Channel.
Phelps first set the world record back in 2001 at the age of 15, becoming the youngest male swimmer to break a world record in doing so. Since then, however, he’s broken his own record seven times, most recently clocking in a time of 1:51.51 in Rome in 2009, which remained unbeaten until Wednesday.
STOP THE PRESSES! A fantastic new World Record from 19-year old Kristóf Milák of Hungary in the Men’s 200m Fly beating Michael Phelps old mark of 1:51.51, set a decade ago in Rome, with a new time of 1:50.73…Outstanding! 💪👑#Swimming #FINAGwangju2019 pic.twitter.com/Qr2DiOGDG3
— FINA (@fina1908) July 24, 2019
Milak finished first on Wednesday by a whopping three seconds, defeating Japan’s Daiya Seto, who came in second with a time of 1:53:86, and South Africa’s Chad le Clos, who came in third with a time of 1:54:15, according to USA Today.
Hungarian Kristof Milak, 19 years old, shatters Michael Phelps' 200m butterfly world record by .78 of a second at swimming worlds. pic.twitter.com/z8mG4Pjv3B
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) July 24, 2019
Phelps, 34, still holds the world records for the 100m butterfly, which he broke in 2009, and the 400m individual medley, which the swimmer set in 2008.
