20-year old Joseph Isaac Schooling is the real deal.

Michael Phelps swim the 100 fly loses to Joseph Schooling 51.58/51.65.#He will be back#Go Michael!! #Peaq pic.twitter.com/Vjnj1Th1KU

— Pat Anderson (@PatA601) June 4, 2016

He has beaten current 100m butterfly Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps this morning (Friday evening in the US) with a time of 51.58 seconds at a swim meet in Austin, Texas.

Phelps, who have 18 Olympic gold medals so far, finished second (51.65s).

Schooling told Mothership.sg after his win:

"I am very happy with my performance today. A few weeks ago I did a 51.86 and I managed to shave it to 51.58. Coach Eddie (Eddie Reese, Jo's current coach and former US Olympics swimming coach) and I have worked out a plan which leads all the way to the Olympics and with this result, it shows that I am on the right track.

This win is extremely significant for me, because I managed to beat my idol, Michael Phelps. This sets a great precedent for the Olympic Games and I am really looking forward to a showdown in Rio."

There is an adage: Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Time and time again, Schooling has shown us that he is not just an in-form kid or a one-hit boy wonder.

Schooling is a class above the rest when it matters.

Remember the SEA Games last year?

In the 28th SEA Games, Schooling participated in 9 events, won all 9 golds and broke 9 Games records. Schooling’s time of 22.47 seconds in the 50m freestyle also smashed a 33-year national record (22.69s).

Remember the 2014 Commonwealth Games?

He won Singapore's first swimming medal (silver) at the Commonwealth games at the Men's 100m butterfly results, finishing behind Olympic gold medalist Chad Le Clos.

Sure, let's calm down, for the Olympic Games (Aug 5-21) is still two months away.

To put things in context, Schooling's winning time is behind his personal best of 50.96s.

And Phelps is still the current world record holder for the event, recording 49.82s in 2009.

Phelps could still return to form.

But Schooling has surely served notice to the one of the greatest Olympian with this stupendous swim.

Schooling showed that he can handle the pressure of competing and beating his idol and he is "on the right track" to get even better in Rio.

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