This archive report was first published on 26 July 2019.
On Friday, July 26, 2019, American swimmer Caeleb Dressel made history by breaking the world record in the men's 100 meters butterfly at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
Dressel shattered Michael Phelps's long-standing world record with a semi-final swim time of 49.50 seconds, beating Phelps's mark of 49.82 seconds set at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
This impressive feat has put Dressel on course to match or even surpass his seven gold medals won at the 2017 World Championships.
At just 22 years old, Dressel has already captured three gold medals at the 2019 World Championships and appears to be untouchable in the 100m fly event.
As he exploded from the blocks in the second semi-final, Dressel quickly took the lead, leaving Russian swimmer Andreo Minakov in his wake.
With a powerful acceleration after the turn, Dressel beat Minakov by almost two seconds, celebrating his victory by raising a clenched fist in the direction of flag-waving American fans.
