At the halfway point in Wednesday's final, Zirk, 24, was in fourth spot. He then fell back to sixth going into the final stretch, before managing to overtake New Zealander Lewis Clareburt at the last.

Zirk went into the final having first set a new Estonian national record in the heats (1 minute 55.58 seconds), before falling just six hundredths short of that in the semis. Not content with becoming the first Estonian to compete in a men's World Aquatics Championships final, Tartu-born Zirk saved the best till last, knocking another tenth of a second off his own record time.

Japan's Tomoru Honda (1 minute 53.88) was crowned world champion, beating Italy's Alberto Razzetti in second by 0.77 seconds (1 minute 54.65 seconds). Martin Espernberger of Austria was third (1 minute 55.16 seconds), just 32 hundredths of a second ahead of Zirk in fifth.

"To swim in the final of the World Championships is the best result of my life, I can't ask for more," said Zirk after the race. "Compared to the semi-final, I was a lot faster over the first 100 meters, which wasn't planned tactically, but I went out there fighting and overall I'm really happy with my position."

Zirk said that the entire World Championships has felt like a Hollywood movie. "Here in Doha, it's had everything – laughter, tears and everything in between," he smiled.

"Now I'm going to take a few days off and spend some time with my family, and then I'm heading to a high-altitude camp in the U.S. in March. The longer-term aim is definitely to be even sharper for the Paris Olympics."

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