Viktor Bromer of Denmark broke his own national record in the 200m butterfly in order to qualify second heading into the semifinals behind Hungarian swim star Laszlo Cseh.
Touching in at 1:54.47, Bromer took 0.82 seconds off the national record of 1:55.29 that he set back in 2014 at the European Championships.
The time for Bromer also stands as a new Nordic record, which was also previously held by him at 1:55.29.
The 22-year-old is the 2014 European Champion in the 200m butterfly, but has yet to earn an international medal at either the World Championships or Olympic Games.
Heading into Tuesday night’s semifinals, he’s looking as though he’s in a great position to get on the podium and potentially earn Denmark their second medal of these 2015 World Championships.
If he wants to do that however, he’s going to have to face off against some tough competitors. Qualifying third behind him was Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto who is known to be fast in both the IM and fly races.
Throw Brazilian Leonardo De Deus into the mix who won the 200m fly earlier this year at the Pan American Games, Tyler Clary of the United States, and defending World Champion Chad Le Clos, and getting on the podium might not be as easy as anticipated by prelim results.
Bromer will have to hold on and likely dip under the 1:54 mark in order to finish in the top three assuming he makes the final.