Rigoberto Urán may have been the first Latino to take the podium at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, but Ryan Lochte is the Latino first to strike gold.

The 27-year-old half-Cuban American swimmer captured the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday, while his biggest rival Michael Phelps finished fourth and failed to medal for the first time since the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney when he was just 15 years old. In the end, Brazil’s Thiago Pereira was Lochte’s closest competitor.

In his first final at the Olympics, Lochte demonstrated why he’s been considered the world’s best swimmer in the the last year. He held strong throughout the race before making his move in the backstroke and finally pulling away in the breaststroke and freestyle.

Lochte’s performance was nothing short of brilliant. And, it was a sign that a changing of the guards in swimming could be at hand.