Teenage swimming sensation Park Tae-hwan has placed first in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

In the finals for the 400-meter event on Sunday, Park stormed to a world title in 3:40.30, beating out Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli who finished second in 3:45.12.

Australia's Grant Hackett, who had been the early favorite, placed third in 3:45.43.

The 17-year-old South Korean rising star surged to a win after turning fourth into the final 50 meters, breaking the Asian record of 3:45 he had set at the Pan-Pacific Swimming Championships in Canada last August.

The stunning upset gave Korea its first-ever world swimming title.

Park burst on to the world stage at last year's Pan-Pacific championships when he won both the 400-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle, following that up last December with seven medals, including three golds, at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.