Le Clos wins SA's first medal in South Korea

Cape Town - Chad le Clos has won South Africa's first medal of the 2019 FINA World Championship in Gwangju, South Korea on Wednesday.

Swimming out of Lane 2 in the men's 200m butterfly final, Le Clos touched the wall in third place in a time 1:54.15.

Hungarian 19-year-old teenage superstar Kristof Milak smashed Michael Phelps' 10-year-old world record, stopping the clock in a time of 1:50.73.

Phelps' old record was set in Rome in 2009 stood at 1:51.51.

Japan's Daiya Seto took home the silver in a time of 1:53.86.

The 18-strong South African swimming team has struggled greatly to date with only Le Clos and Tatjana Schoenmaker reaching a final, let alone a semi-final.

South African swimming team in Gwangju:

Men

Alaric Basson, Ayrton Sweeney, Bradley Tandy, Chad le Clos, Christopher Reid, Eben Vorster, Michael Houlie, Ryan Coetzee, Zane Waddell

Women

Dune Coetzee, Emma Chelius, Erin Gallagher, Kaylene Corbett, Mariella Venter, Nathania van Niekerk, Rebecca Meder, Tatjana Schoenmaker, Tayla Lovemore

WR alert!! ????????
Kristof Milak sets a World Record stopping the clock in 1:50.73 in the 200m Butterfly! ????
He beats @MichaelPhelps record from 2009! CONGRATS, Kristof! ??????‍??#FINAGwangju2019 pic.twitter.com/XOTJaeEiwe

— FINA (@fina1908) July 24, 2019