Thursday, July 30, 2009 ROME: Michael Phelps regained his golden touch here on Wednesday with a record-setting triumph in the men's 200m butterfly at the swimming World Championships.Phelps finally caught the wave of world records washing over these worlds with a time of 1min 51.51sec to break his own record of 1min 52sec.Phelps's world record was one of seven on the day, taking the tally at the halfway point of the eight-day competition to 22.Zhang Lin became the first Chinese man to capture World Championship swimming gold, destroying Aussie distance great Grant Hackett's 800m freestyle world record.Italy's Federica Pellegrini thrilled her legion of fans at Rome's Foro Italico with a victory in the 200m free, lowering the world record for the second time in two days with a swim of 1:52.93.South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh also notched his second world record in as many days with his triumph in the 50m breaststroke in 26.67.America's Mary Descenza threw in a world record in the heats of the women's 200m butterfly for good measure, and in the women's 50m backstroke semi-finals Daniela Samulski lowered her own world record with a time of 27.39 in the first semi-final only to be pipped by Anastasia Zueva's 27.38 in the second semi.The record tally has already risen past the 15 set at the 2007 World Championships, and is closing in on the 25 posted at the Beijing Olympics.But this time Phelps, still swimming in the Speedo LZR suit that has been overtaken by the polyurethane marvels unveiled this year, hadn't been at the forefront.The 14-time Olympic gold medallist was upset in the 200m free on Tuesday, when Germany's Paul Biedermann took both his world title and world record.The 24-year-old American had seemed non-plussed by his first defeat in world and Olympic competition since 2005, but he knew just what to do after the victory, raising both arms in celebration as he stood on the deck to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd.Matsuda was lying second to Phelps until the final lap, when he was overtaken by Korzeniowski, who snatched the silver in 1:53.23 as Matsuda settled for bronze in 1:53.32.Zhang turned in an astonishing swim, slicing 6.53sec off the previous world record of 7:38.65 set by Hackett at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal.
Thursday, July 30, 2009 ROME: Michael Phelps regained his golden touch here on Wednesday with a record-setting triumph in the men's 200m butterfly at the swimming World Championships.Phelps finally caught the wave of world records washing over these worlds with a time of 1min 51.51sec to break his own record of 1min 52sec.Phelps's world record was one of seven on the day, taking the tally at the halfway point of the eight-day competition to 22.Zhang Lin became the first Chinese man to capture World Championship swimming gold, destroying Aussie distance great Grant Hackett's 800m freestyle world record.Italy's Federica Pellegrini thrilled her legion of fans at Rome's Foro Italico with a victory in the 200m free, lowering the world record for the second time in two days with a swim of 1:52.93.South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh also notched his second world record in as many days with his triumph in the 50m breaststroke in 26.67.America's Mary Descenza threw in a world record in the heats of the women's 200m butterfly for good measure, and in the women's 50m backstroke semi-finals Daniela Samulski lowered her own world record with a time of 27.39 in the first semi-final only to be pipped by Anastasia Zueva's 27.38 in the second semi.The record tally has already risen past the 15 set at the 2007 World Championships, and is closing in on the 25 posted at the Beijing Olympics.But this time Phelps, still swimming in the Speedo LZR suit that has been overtaken by the polyurethane marvels unveiled this year, hadn't been at the forefront.The 14-time Olympic gold medallist was upset in the 200m free on Tuesday, when Germany's Paul Biedermann took both his world title and world record.The 24-year-old American had seemed non-plussed by his first defeat in world and Olympic competition since 2005, but he knew just what to do after the victory, raising both arms in celebration as he stood on the deck to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd.Matsuda was lying second to Phelps until the final lap, when he was overtaken by Korzeniowski, who snatched the silver in 1:53.23 as Matsuda settled for bronze in 1:53.32.Zhang turned in an astonishing swim, slicing 6.53sec off the previous world record of 7:38.65 set by Hackett at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal.
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