Two long-standing Michael Phelps world records have been broken in one week, and he handled it graciously
- Two of Michael Phelps' three individual world records have been broken this week.
- Kristof Milak of Hungary broke Phelps' 200-meter butterfly record on Wednesday and American swimmer Caeleb Dressel broke Phelps' 100-meter butterfly record on Friday.
- Phelps handled both occasions graciously, admitting frustration with seeing his records go down, but congratulating both swimmers on their feats.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Michael Phelps has seen two of his three world records fall within days of each other.
On Wednesday, 19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak broke Phelps' 18-year-old world record in the 200-meter butterfly. Milak posted a time of 1 minute, 50.37 seconds at the FINA World Championships, topping Phelps' previous record of 1:51.51.
On Friday, at the world championships, American swimmer Caeleb Dressel topped Phelps' 10-year-old record in the 100-meter butterfly, posting a time of 49.50, beating Phelps' previous record of 49.82.
Phelps handled the news graciously in both cases.
"As frustrated as I am to see that record go down, I couldn't be happier to see how he did it," Phelps told The New York Times after Milak's race. "That kid's last 100 was incredible. He put together a great 200 fly from start to finish."
Phelps took to Instagram to congratulate Milak, too.
According to The Times' Karen Crouse, Milak used to study Phelps' races, looking for ways to improve his form in the butterfly.
Phelps also graciously handled Dressel's world record on Friday, posting an Instagram for the 22-year-old swimmer.
Dressel replied to Phelps' Instagram, writing, "I appreciate you and what you've done for us."
Dressel has emerged as one of the greatest butterfly swimmers in history. According to Swim Swam, he holds six of the 10 best times in the 100-meter butterfly.
According to NBC's Nick Zaccardi, Phelps has just one individual world record standing - the 400-meter IM.
- Read more:
- 'You're a loser, I'm a winner:' Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang lashes out as British rival Duncan Scott joins protest against him
- Zion Williamson signed a $75 million shoe deal before ever playing an NBA game. It could represent the biggest emerging threat to teams in today's NBA.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov says recent ring deaths make him 'hate this sport in which we beat each other'
- The most iconic athlete born in every state