Michael Phelps owned the world record in the 200-meter butterfly for 18 straight years. And now, thanks to 19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak, it’s been broken. Shockingly shattered, actually.
At the FINA world championships Wednesday in South Korea, Milak clocked a time of 1:50.73, shaving .78 seconds off Phelps’ world record.
In his signature event — and the only one he competed in at all five of his Olympic appearances — Phelps first set the record in 2001 as a 15-year-old, becoming the youngest male swimming to break a world record. He broke his own mark seven times, and most recently, he dropped the record time down to 1:51.51 in 2009 before it stood for a decade.
To put it in perspective, Milak was barely a year old when Phelps first claimed the 200 fly world record.
Enter Milak, who finished first by an incredible three seconds Wednesday and was about a half a body length ahead of Phelps’ world record pace when he hit the wall. Japan’s Daiya Seto was second with a time of 1:53.86 and South Africa’s Chad le Clos — remember Phelps’ nemesis? — was third at 1:54.15.
Phelps won is a four-time world champion in the 200 fly and won four Olympic golds in the event. The only Olympic Games he didn’t win this event at was his first in 2000 in Sydney, where it was his lone event and he placed fifth.
Still undeniably the greatest swimmer of all time, Phelps still has the world record for the 100-meter butterfly (2009) and the 400-meter individual medley (2008), but the 200 fly always seemed like the one that would stand.
