SALINAS, Calif. — Clark Kent may be Superman, but a 10-year-old boy who shares his name has the powers of Aquaman.
At the Far West International Swimming Championship Sunday, Clark Kent Apuada placed first in all seven events he swam in. But in the 100 meter butterfly, he broke a record set by Olympian Michael Phelps at the same meet back in 1995.
"Most people just call me Clark, but now, when I beat Michael Phelps' record, they start calling me Superman," he said. "I thought to myself yeah if I had positive thoughts, positive things would happen."
"It's the coolest thing in the world because that's all he talked about," said Travis Rianda, Apuada's swim coach. "It wasn't like, 'I want to be better than Michael Phelps,' or anything like that. His first goals were, 'I want to be a scientist, an Olympic gold medalist for the United States and I want to be a black belt.' He's on track for all three of those."
In addition to breaking Phelps' record by 1.1 seconds, Apuada also won six other races at the meet. Technically, Apuada can't qualify for the Olympics just yet, but the Olympics is his ultimate goal. Michael Phelps himself has already noticed his talent.
Apuada has only been swimming competitively for four years, but with sky-high dreams and a name to match, he just may be a real-life superhero.