Phelps makes waves again

ROME -Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) won gold and set a world record in the men's 200m fly Wednesday at the 2009 FINA World Championships, his time of 1:51.51 eclipsing the mark he set at last year's Olympic Games by 52-hundredths of a second.  

Phelps' gold was one of four medals won by the United States on the fourth night of competition. Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) and Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) took silver and bronze in the women's 200m freestyle, with times of 1:54.96 and 1:55.64, respectively. Schmitt's time was an American record, erasing the mark set by Vollmer in last night's semifinals by 33-hundredths of a second.

Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) won Team USA' s fourth medal of the night, a bronze in the men's 50m breaststroke with an American record time of 26.86.

Team USA's medal tally in the pool now stands at nine, including four gold, two silver and three bronze. The U.S. Swim Team now leads all countries in both gold medals and overall medal count.

In addition to Phelps' swim, four other world records were set at Stadia del Nuoto Wednesday. Setting those records were Russia's Anastasia Zueva in the semifinals of the women's 50m back (27.38), Italy's Federica Pellegrini in the final of the women's 200m free (1:52.98), South Africa's Cameron Van der Burgh in the final of the men's 50m breast (26.67) and China's Lin Zhang in the final of men's 800m free (7:32.12).

In his signature event, Phelps was more than half a second ahead of world record-pace the entire way, leaving the rest of the field fighting for second. The silver medal went to Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski , who finished nearly two seconds behind in 1:53.23. The bronze went to Japan's Takeshi Matsuda in 1:53.32. Phelps' teammate Tyler Clary was fifth in 1:54.45.

Bowman said he knew Phelps was prepared for tonight's race.

"He was really relaxed and had a good night's sleep," Bowman said. "You can kind of tell when something like this is going to happen, and tonight he was ready. When he has a plan, you let him go with it. He knows what to do. Whatever he wants to do, he'll do."

In the women's 200m free, Italian superstar Pellegrini pulled away from the field in the first 100 meters, and Vollmer and Schmitt battled through the race for second place.  Vollmer held the edge through the first 150, but Schmitt inched past in the final length to secure the silver. Vollmer edged Great Britain's Joanne Jackson by 24-hundredths of a second for bronze.

"I just went for it tonight," Vollmer said. "We talked about our chances of medals last night. It was nice having Allison next to me, and we had fun both getting a medal."

As the eighth seed in the men's 50m breaststroke, Gangloff took his mark in lane 8 and used the calmer water in the outside lane to stroke his way to a bronze medal and American record. Van der Burgh was first in world record time, followed by Felipe Silva in 26.76.

"We don't ever get to compete in the 50m breast in the U.S., so to me, it's just a lot of fun," Gangloff said. "At the beginning of the meet, the U.S. started off kind of slow. Then tonight we had Phelps and the ladies in the 200 free, and I'm just glad I could add to that."

Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) the United States' lone representative in the men's 800m free final, finished sixth in 7:48.44. Zhang took gold with his world record, while Tunisia's Ous Mellouli and Canada's Ryan Cochrane finished second and third, respectively, with times of 7:35.27 and 7:41.92.

After missing Phelps' American record by eight-hundredths of a second in this morning's prelims of the 100m free, David Walters qualified sixth in tonight's semifinal with a time of 47.92. Nathan Adrian, who swam a crucial leg as anchor of the Americans' 400m free relay Sunday, finished 10^th in semis in 48.13 and did not advance.

After setting the world record (2:04.14) in this morning's prelims of the women's 200m butterfly, Mary DeScenza (Athens, Ga.) settled for a second seed in tomorrow night's finals of this event, turning in a time of 2:04.33 in semis. Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.) was ninth in 2:06.89.

Americans Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) will both swim in tomorrow night's finals of the men's 200m IM after qualifying first and fifth, respectively, with times of 1:55.18 and 1:57.16. Coming into Rome, the two were the second- and third-fastest swimmers of all time in this event, behind world record-holder Phelps.

Team USA will not be represented in tomorrow night's finals of the women's 50m back. Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas) finished 11^th in the semifinals in 27.83 and did not advance.

Finals action continues Thursday with finals in the men's 200m IM (Lochte, Shanteau) and 100m free (Walters), as well as the women's 200m fly (Vollmer, Schmitt) and 50m backstroke. Additionally, the women's 4x200m freestyle relay will be contested.

Tags: Allison Schmitt, FINA, Michael Phelps, USA Swimming