Chase Kalisz proved he’s currently the best individual medley swimmer in the world with a crushing victory over the Japanese star duo.

The American geared up after the 250-meter turn to take a lead and only widened the gap on former world champions Kosuke Hagino and Daiya Seto the rest of the way in the 400-meter IM final on the first day of the Pan Pacific Championships on Thursday.

Defending world champion Kalisz claimed the gold medal with a time of 4 minutes, 7.95 seconds at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center.