Cavic set for Phelps showdown

Milorad Cavic can talk a good game. He’s not too bad in the pool, either.

While Aaron Peirsol was redeeming himself for a huge disappointment, Cavic managed to make plenty of headlines on Friday at the world swimming championships — in and out of the water.

First, the Serbian said he was tired of hearing complaints from the Michael Phelps camp about competing in an inferior suit, even going so far as offering to buy him one of the polyurethane models responsible for most of the world records at the Foro Italico.

Then, Cavic went out in the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly and knocked off Phelps’ world record, nearly becoming the first swimmer to break 50 seconds.

Of course, they don’t hand out gold until after the finals. The race Cavic really wants to win is still to come.

In the meantime, he’s doing plenty of talking. Cavic hasn’t backed off on his belief that he beat Phelps to the wall at the Beijing Olympics, all photographic and timing evidence to the contrary. Now, the Serbian has another shot at the man who officially won by a 0.01 seconds on the way to capturing eight gold medals in China.

Phelps was the second-fastest qualifier and he was set to be side-by-side with Cavic in the middle of the pool last night.

“I’m capable of swimming under 50, which would be enough to win the gold,” said Cavic, who touched in 50.01 seconds to break Phelps’ record of 50.22.

Phelps went 50.48 in his semi-final heat and came back less than an hour later to claim his third gold medal of the championships, swimming the leadoff leg of the 800m freestyle relay won by the US in a world record of 6 minutes, 58.55 seconds — 0.01 seconds faster than its gold medal time at the Olympics.

Peirsol made up for a huge disappointment in the best way possible, obliterating the world record in the 200m backstroke and getting back at Ryan Lochte, who beat his fellow American in that event at both the 2007 worlds in Melbourne and last summer on the biggest stage of all.

This wasn’t just any race for Peirsol, not after what happened on Monday.

Expecting to cruise through to the final of the 100m back — after all, he was three-time defending champion and had just set a world record a few weeks ago — Peirsol made a huge miscalculation in how fast he needed to go. He finished ninth in the semis; only the top eight moved on the final.

Peirsol could only watch from stands the following night and start looking ahead to his other chance for an individual medal in Rome.

Peirsol got out all his frustrations with a dominating performance, breaking his own world record by more than a full second, his time of 1:51.92 wiping out the mark of 1:53.08 he set at the US nationals three weeks ago.

Japan’s Ryosuke Irie claimed silver in 1:52.51, also under the old mark. Lochte faded to third.

On the medal stand, Peirsol appeared to be struggling to hold back tears as the national anthem played.

Two Americans endured bitter disappointments.

Eric Shanteau, who put off treatment for testicular cancer after qualifying for Beijing, was edged out for gold in the 200m breaststroke by the narrowest of margins. He appeared to be ahead the final time his head popped out the water, but his glide to the wall was a little too long and Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta touched in 2:07.64.

Shanteau’s time was 2:06.65 — 0.01 seconds from his first world championship, and one that would have been especially poignant after what he went through last summer.