Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic again. No doubt about it.
With a defiant performance in a supposedly inferior suit, Phelps stayed close over the outward lap and rallied on the return to become the first swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100m butterfly, beating the Serb with a time of 49.82.
Cavic also broke 50 seconds, but 49.95 only got him a silver — and plenty of words to eat. He wasn’t nearly as close as last year’s Beijing Olympics, when Phelps famously won by 0.01 seconds and Cavic claimed he had touched first.
PHOTO : AP
“That satisfied me a little bit,” Phelps quipped with a crooked grin. “I set it up perfectly.”
When Phelps saw his time at the Foro Italico, he hopped up on the lane rope separating him and Cavic, threw up his arms and let out a scream toward his mother and sister in the stands.
Showing as much emotion as he ever has, Phelps also slapped the water and tugged at his Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit — no doubt in reference to Cavic offering to get Phelps one of those supposedly faster polyurethane suits so he wouldn’t have any excuses.
PHOTO :EPA
No need, Milorad. Phelps did just fine with his own attire.
“It doesn’t matter what suit you wear,” Phelps said. “It matters how you train.”
In one of the most memorable events of the Beijing Olympics, Phelps pulled out an improbable victory on his final half-stroke to beat Cavic by the narrowest possible margin. Without that win, Phelps would not have broken Mark Spitz’s record with eight gold medals in a single Games.
Cavic has stewed over the loss, believing he touched first but didn’t put as much pressure on the touchpad as Phelps, who crashed into the wall much harder. Even though all electronic and photographic evidence shows Phelps won, Cavic repeated his claims when he got to Rome.
He also tried to get into Phelps’ head, saying it was the American’s own fault for sticking with a Speedo suit that isn’t as fast as polyurethane models such as the Arena X-Glide, which Cavic wears.
The Serbian offered to get Phelps an X-Glide “within the hour” or buy him another of the rubberized suits out of his own pocket.
Cavic even said he would really prefer to race Phelps wearing nothing but briefs.
Phelps said he would do his talking in the pool.
Phelps set his second world record of the fastest meet in history and got back the mark Cavic snatched away a night earlier with a time of 51.01 in the semi-finals.
Phelps also won his fourth gold medal of the championships, to go along with the silver he grudgingly accepted after losing to Germany’s Paul Biedermann in the 200m free.
Three other world records were set on Saturday, bringing the total to 39 with one day left at the final meet for high-tech bodysuits.
Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took down her own mark in the 200m backstroke, winning in 2 minutes, 4.81 seconds.
China claimed the record in the women’s 400m medley relay.
Li Zhesi finished it off in 3:52.19 to beat the mark set by Australia (3:52.69) at the Beijing Olympics. The winning team also included Zhao Jing, Chen Huijia and Jiao Liuyang.
In a semi-final heat of a non-Olympic event, Britain’s Liam Tancock set a world record of 24.08 in the 50m backstroke, eclipsing the mark of 24.33 held by American Randall Bal. Junya Koga of Japan also went under the previous record time to win the second heat at 24.29. The final was set for last night.
Cesar Cielo of Brazil completed a sweep of the freestyle sprints with the 50m title. Cielo added to his title in the 100m with a one-lap time of 21.08.
Australia’s Marieke Guehrer (women’s 50m fly) and Lotte Friis of Denmark (women’s 800m free) managed to win world titles without world records.
Phelps’ last individual event in Rome was a classic tortoise-versus-hare matchup, with Cavic knowing he would need a big lead at the turn, and Phelps aware he would have to be close enough to pull it out with his typically strong finish.
The day didn’t start well for Phelps. At the warmup pool, he collided with Australian teenager Cate Campbell and broke his goggles.
“We were all a little freaked out,” Phelps said. “I was kind of blurry in my left eye a little bit. But it ended up going away.”
The two rivals entered the deck with all the hype of a heavyweight fight. Cavic played right along — patting his heart, crossing himself twice and staring down Phelps as they waited to step up on the blocks. Then, they were off. Cavic knew he was in trouble when Phelps was right on his shoulder as they kicked away from the far wall, just 0.77 separating them.
“I was pretty sure I was going to be ahead at the first turn,” said Cavic, who wanted to be at least a second ahead. “When I saw him right there, uh oh.”
Phelps appeared to be sneaking underwater glances in Cavic’s direction all the way back, then finished in one last swoop of his arms.
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