Aptly-named ten-year old swimmer Clark Kent Apuada is making headlines everywhere in the sporting world after breaking a record once held by the legendary Michael Phelps.
‘Superman’
The Filipino-born Apuada recently won at the 2018 Long Course Meters Far Western International Age Group Championships for the 100-meter butterfly, clocking in 1:09:38. to beat the Olympian’s record by a mere second.
Phelps set the record for the 100-meter butterfly back in 1995, when he was also 10 years old.
Apuada beat the other competitors by an average of 5 seconds.
The feat has won him fans from all over the world.
Wow! Michael Phelps with the shout-out to Salinas swimmer – Clark Kent! ??♂️ https://t.co/fqQyr5rsAC
— Drea Blackwell (@KSBWDrea) August 2, 2018
Some good news in these dark times: A 10-year-old named Clark Kent beat a record that Michael Phelps held for 23 years ❤️ @CNN https://t.co/HRkKAmGQFN #pinoyphenom #ClarkKentofSwimming @wawam @DigitallyManila @ChiliMedley @pinoymommy @TigerMudra @citizenjaneph @BettyRome
— A Balancing Bipolar (@peachybrets) August 1, 2018
Just like the almighty Kryptonian, the budding prodigy has interests and talents outside of his athletic pursuits.
While Clark Kent the superhero spends his time on journalism and deep space science when not fighting crime, Clark Kent the swimmer spends his time out of the water on music and martial arts.
He is also interested in science and mathematics, according to his family and trainers.
Apuada started training at the age of three and first competed when he was seven. He has reportedly eyed breaking Phelps’ record since that age.
With that feat finally in the books, the pint-sized superman is now also aspiring to make it to the Olympics one day.
2018 has seen a number of Filipino athletes win big in the international sports scene.
Reserve goalkeeper Alphonse Areola recently became the footballer with Filipino blood to hold up the coveted FIFA World Cup trophy after France edged out Croatia in the championship match of the tournament in June this year.
A few weeks later, boxer-turned lawmaker Sen. Manny Pacquiao got his fighting career back on track after knocking out Lucas Matthyse in the seventh round of their WBA Welterweight championship bout.
