10-year-old swimmer beats record set by Michael Phelps 23 years ago

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. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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