Swimming phenom Adam Peaty beat his own record time for the men's 100-meter breaststroke early Sunday, becoming the first man to finish the race in under 57 seconds.

The 24-year-old Brit clocked in at 56.88, nearly two seconds ahead of his opponents, in the event's semifinals at the 2019 World Aquatic Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Want to see @adam_peaty become the first man in history to break 57 seconds 👀 pic.twitter.com/7k2m60irqt

He is scheduled to compete in the final round of the men's 100-meter breaststroke Monday.

Peaty previously set the record for the race in a gold medal-winning performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, with a time of 57.13.

He told British Swimming , the sports governing body, that he doesn't plan on celebrating just yet -- he considers his feat a "bonus" before the finals.

"I've come here to win a world title, and that's tomorrow, and that's still my main focus," he said.

He's angling to defend his title at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

An American places second and old rivalries flare

Elsewhere at the championships, American Katie Ledecky lost to Ariarne Titmus of Australia in the 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky landed the silver medal for her performance, just 1.21 seconds behind Titmus.

Absolutely awesome to see @_mackhorton protesting clean sport by not getting up on the podium next to Sun Yang #cleansport pic.twitter.com/6WFJ8LhV8H — David McKeon (@DavoMcKeon) July 21, 2019