Kristof Milak sent shudders across poolsides around the world as he took a sledgehammer to Michael Phelps’ world record in the 200m butterfly as arena swimmers ruled the pool on Wednesday in Gwangju, South Korea.
Milak, of Hungary, led a clean sweep in the event with Daiya Seto and Chad Le Clos rounding out the podium as the 10-year world record was reduced to 1min 50.73secs.
The 19-year-old sliced a huge chunk of 0.78secs from the previous record set by Phelps at the World Championships in Rome in 2009.
He said: “Michael Phelps was never a hero of mine. I was only nine when he swam in Rome. I have seen the videos of his races but they are poor quality.
“Katinka Hosszu is much more a hero to me because I can see her in training at the Duna Arena and I know how hard she works.”
Seto of Japan was 3.13secs adrift in second and Le Clos, who led for the first 100m before finishing in 1:54.15, was stunned, saying: “I’m pretty shocked with what a great time it was, it was unbelievable. Looking at the splits are just phenomenal.
“He actually shattered it! 1:50.7 is a freestyle time: I think I went 1:49 at nationals 200 free so that’s a very special time.
Gregorio Paltrinieri set a new European record of 7mins 39.27secs to win the 800m…
