It is the sixth time Phelps has taken down this record, and it makes him the first athlete to go under 1:53 in the 200m fly. It was also the biggest improvement in this event in 48 years. American Mike Troy broke his own world record in this event in 1959 by 2.6 seconds.
The world record is Phelps’ second of the meet and the fifth for Team USA. In the second event of Wednesday’s finals, world championship rookie Leila Vaziri (Coral Springs, Fla.) also broke the world record in the semifinal of the women’s 50m backstroke after setting the American record this morning. Her time of 28.16 was three-hundredths faster than the old world record of 28.19, which was shared by Janine Pietsch of Germany and Aleksandra Herasimenia of Belarus. American Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.), a 200m backstroke specialist, missed out on the finals, finishing 11th in 28.94.
In the 200m fly, it was more of a race for second place than first. Phelps was more than three seconds faster than silver medalist Wu Peng of China (1:55.13) and bronze medalist Nikolay Skvortsov of Russia (1:55.22).
Phelps, who has three gold medalst in the four-day-old meet, returned later in the evening to swim in the semifinal of the men’s 200m individual medley. Phelps and American teammate Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) are poised for another showdown in the 200m IM, as both advanced in their semifinal heats. Phelps is the top seed in 1:57.94, with Lochte trailing him by half-second as the second seed in 1:58.48. Brazil’s Thiago Pereira rounds out the top three with a time of 1:58.65.
Team USA’s other medal of the evening came from Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.), who earned silver in the 50m breaststroke. Ukrainian Oleg Lisogor narrowly won gold, touching the wall in 27.66, just three-hundredths ahead of Hansen (27.69). South Africa’s Camron van der Burgh won bronze with a time of 27.88.
Continuing the pattern of falling world records, France’s Laure Manaudou set the world record with a time of 1:55.52. She and silver medalist Annika Lurz of Germany, who touched the wall in 1:55.68, became the first two women in history under 1:55. The former record of 1:56.64 was set by Germany’s Franziska Van Almsick in August 2002.Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) finished just shy of the podium in fourth place, but her time of 1:57.09 lowered the American record of 1:57.29 she set last night in the semis. Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) took sixth place with a time of 1:58.30.
The men’s 800m free concluded the evening finals; however, no Americans competed in the final. Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli, who trains at the University of Southern California, won gold in the event with a time of 7:46.95. Przemyslaw Stanczyk of Poland and Craig Stevens of Australia were the silver and bronze medalists, respectively. Of note is the fact that Australian distance king Grant Hackett, who set the world record in this event in 2005 at the World Championships, finished seventh.
In other semifinal action, Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) comfortably advanced to the finals of the 100m free as the top seed. Lezak took it out strong and was under world-record pace through the turn, finishing in 48.51. Italy’s Filippo Magnini is the second seed (48.60), and world record-holder Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands claimed the third seed (48.72).
Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) swam a lifetime best in the 200m fly, earning the second seed behind world record-holder Jessicah Schipper of Australia. Vandenberg’s time of 2:08.06 was just three-tenths behind Schipper, who finished in 2:07.72. China’s Jiao Liuyang rounds out the top three (2:08.20).
Preliminary heats in five events will be contested on Thursday morning, including: women’s 100m free, men’s 200m back, women’s 200m breast, men’s 200m breast and women’s 800m free relay. Footage of the world and American record performances, as well as all the action from tonight’s finals, is available on-demand at wcsn.com.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
