Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle rewrote history when he jumped into the pool for the men’s 100-meter freestyle swim on Wednesday.

The Olympian broke the first world record in swimming events at the 2024 Games by finishing the sprint in 46.40 seconds, beating his own previous record of 46.80 seconds by just the blink of an eye.

Pan edged out his competitors by over a second, what amounts to an eternity in world-class swimming.

Silver medalist Kyle Chalmers of Australia beat Romania’s David Popovici by a hair, finishing the race in 47.48 seconds while Popovici hit the wall at 47.49.

Pan celebrated his record-shattering swim in an interview, telling The Associated Press, “It was a magical moment, really magical.”

“The record was not just for the Chinese team, but for the world,” he added. “This is a small step by breaking this record.”

Witness the full race right here: