A 10-year-old Filipino-American boy has broken a swim record set by Michael Phelps more than 20 years ago, earning a surprise message of congratulations from the most successful Olympics athlete in history.
Clark Kent Apuada, who not surprisingly carries the nickname Superman, set a new time of 1:09.38 when he won the 100 meters butterfly at the Far Western International Championship in California on July 29, Rappler reported.
Phelps won the same race in 1:10.48 in 1995, and went on to win an unmatched 23 Olympic gold medals. He quickly responded with a Twitter message: “Big congrats to #clarkkent for smashing that meet record!!! Keep it up dude!! #dreambig”.
Apuada also hopes to one day compete in the Olympics, and said it had been a dream since he was seven to beat one of Phelps’ records.
“Being a Michael Phelps record breaker is amazing, because Michael Phelps is one of the largest swimming icons in the world,” he said.