Phelps wins three events at Santa Clara

"It's a little nerve-racking when you have somebody in the field like Michael Phelps. I'm not disappointed finishing second."

Brent Hayden, Canadian swimmer

Michael Phelps won three more races and set a meet record in an event he rarely swims, while Brendan Hansen took the 200 breaststroke at the Santa Clara Grand Prix on Sunday.

Four months removed from a dominating performance at the FINA World Championships where he won seven gold medals and set five world records, Phelps continued to stake his claim as the sport's premier athlete.

Phelps won the 200m medley and set meet records in the 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle, giving him six victories and five meet records over the four-day meet.

"Not bad," Phelps said. "Having these three events back-to-back-to-back like that, it's good for my training.

"To be able to have three races like this, where you can get up and then race some of the best swimmers in the world, that definitely drives me," he said.

Phelps previously won the 200m fly, 200m back and 400m free, setting meet records in the 200m fly and 400m free. He also tied the meet record in the 200m back.

He was just as dominant in the 200m medley but his time of 1 minute, 59.71 seconds was nearly five seconds off his own world record mark.

It was different in the 100m free and 100m back. Phelps won both, the 100m free in 49.10 seconds and the 100m back in 54.45, but was pushed to the brink both times.

In the 100m free, Phelps and defending world champion Brent Hayden of Canada staged one of the meet's best races.

Hayden took the lead shortly after the midway turn and was still in front with 15m to go when Phelps, a notoriously strong finisher, sprinted past him to touch in 49.10 seconds, a meet record.

Hayden was second at 49.34 and Australian Eamon Sullivan was third in 49.35.

"I wanted to try to keep it close enough where hopefully I could get [Hayden] in the end," Phelps said. "There was barely had enough space."

Since winning the world title in Australia in March, Hayden has been plagued by shoulder, foot and back injuries while Phelps was making a rare appearance in the 100m free as a change of pace in his training for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

"It's a little nerve-racking when you have somebody in the field like Michael Phelps," Hayden said. "I'm not disappointed finishing second. All in all, I'm quite happy for [Phelps]."

Phelps capped his day by winning the 100m back in 54.45 seconds, edging David Cromwell. Phelps' time broke his own meet record of 54.80.

Hansen won the 200m breast in 2:13.49, adding to his victory in the 100m breast two days earlier. Hansen, the defending world champion who was pushed hard by world silver medalist Brent Rickard in the 100m, led the entire way in the 200m and held off Eric Shanteau of the US, who was second in 2:13.73. Rickard, from Australia, placed third in 2:16.30.

"I feel like I only had one gear," said Hansen, whose time was nearly five seconds slower than his world record mark of 2:08.50.

"In the next couple of weeks we're going to work on some speed work, which isn't hard to do," he said. "I definitely feel like I'm in shape. I just didn't have the speed today or Friday."