Ten-year-old ‘Superman’ bests Phelps’ 23-year-old swim record

Remember the name Clark Kent Apuada.

Apuada is 10 years old and from Salinas, California, and during the Far West International Swimming Championship on Sunday, he competed in seven events and came in first in all of them. In the 100-meter butterfly, he smashed a record set by Olympian Michael Phelps at the event 23 years ago, breaking it by 1.1 seconds. “Most people just call me Clark, but now, when I beat Michael Phelps’ record, they start calling me Superman,” he told CBS News. “I thought to myself, yeah, if I had positive thoughts, positive things would happen.”

Phelps congratulated Apuada, tweeting: “Big congrats to #clarkkent for smashing that meet record!!! Keep it up dude!! #dreambig.” Apuada, who began swimming competitively when he was 6 years old, said his goal is to one day compete in the Olympics.

See for instance The Week and CTV News