Another day, another world record for Phelps

Md. native breaks 200 IM mark, wins fourth gold; Hoff anchors world record-breaking 4 x 200M relay

By Kevin Van Valkenburg | Sun Reporter

10:37 AM EDT, March 29, 2007

MELBOURNE, Australia - This is how well things are going for Michael Phelps at the FINA World Championships: He broke a world record this morning, his third in three days, blind.

Phelps had a bit of a goggle issue in the last lap of the finals in the 200-meter individual medley. His eyes were full of water. He couldn't see if American Ryan Lochte, his main competition, was right next to him, right behind him, or right in front of him. He could only swim on instinct.

It wasn't until he touched the wall, peeled off his eyewear, and looked around that he saw and understood what the rest of the swimming world was already well aware of. He'd made history yet again.

Phelps won his fourth gold medal with a time of 1:54.98, which was .86 seconds faster than his previous world record, set in Victoria at the Pan Pacs in August of 2006. It marked the sixth time Phelps has broken a world record in the 200 IM, and the 20th time overall he's held a world record. On the previous two days, Phelps had set world records in the 200-meter freestyle (1:43.86) and the 200-meter butterfly (1:52.09).

"I'm definitely getting in the groove a little bit more," Phelps said. "I'm feeling a lot, lot better in the water, and I'm racing better. I've done four best times in back-to-back-to-back days, and it's been since 2003 since I've done that. But I'm only halfway done."

It was also a career day for Towson's Katie Hoff, who swam the anchor on the American team that broke the world record in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay. It was the first world record Hoff has been a part of in her career, and when she touched the wall and looked up at the American's time, her face lit up with joy.

"First I wasn't sure, but then I looked at the TV screen and saw that it said WR next to our time," Hoff said. "I couldn't believe it. I was so excited."

At this point, Phelps appears to be in such a groove, it would have almost been a disappointment had he not set a new mark. Phelps didn't even bother to smile when he saw his time. He simply put his left hand in the air, and gently shook his fist in mild celebration. Lochte was right with Phelps at 150 meters, but Phelps, as usual, exploded off the final wall to win easily.

"I was hoping to God (Lochte) wasn't going to do a farther kick out than I was, because that would have made the race a lot more interesting," Phelps said.

Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, said the 200 IM was the one race this week in which he thought Phelps would and should break a world record.

"It was a very good race because he was so closely challenged," Bowman said. "Probably of the races he's swam so far, I think there is more room for improvement (in the 200 IM), which is nice."

In retrospect, it should have been obvious from the first night that Phelps was going to dominate this week. On the opening leg of the 4 x 100-meter relay, Phelps touched the wall in 48.42 seconds, giving the U.S. an early lead en route to winning gold.

This morning, Filippo Magnini of Italy won the gold medal in the finals of the 100-meter freestyle. His winning time was 48.43 seconds, a hundredth of a second slower than what Phelps swam on Sunday.

Bowman said Phelps' program is already too full to even think about adding the 100 meters (at least right now). But the fact that Phelps could potentially finish this week with six individual gold medals, multiple world records, and have swam the fastest 100 meters of anyone at the world championships, is almost mind boggling.

"I've always said anything is possible if you put your mind to it," Phelps said. "I've had a good attitude coming into this week, a good attitude throughout, and I've been successful. So I guess I stick with what works."

All around Rod Laever Arena, Phelps' accomplishments had other swimmers shaking their heads in awe.

"He's such a phenomenon. He's like a mutant or something," said American breaststroker Tara Kirk. "He's just going for best times now, and they happen to be world records."

Phelps admitted yesterday that he realized he might be poised to do something special this week about the time he broke the world record in the 200-meter butterfly at the Missouri Toyota Grand Prix a month before the World Championships.

"Being able to set the 200 fly world record with a full goatee and hair coming out of my cap, and not in a strong racing state, was something that surprised me and shocked me a little bit," Phelps said. "Right then and there, I thought that something special could happen this year, and these past four races have been a slight indication of that."

Hoff's job this morning wasn't to chase down the world record as much as it was to simply secure it. By the time it was her turn to swim, the Americans had more than a two-second lead in the 4 x 200 relay, thanks mostly to Natalie Coughlin, who swam a blistering opening leg in 1:56.43, and American record for that distance. But Coughlin, who said she was extremely nervous before the race, admitted that it was Hoff, all of 17 years old, who calmed her down.

"I hadn't swum the 200 free at this meet, and I told Katie I really didn't know what to expect," Coughlin said.

"I just had to remind her that she's in the best shape of her life," Hoff said.

No one, however, seems to be in better shape than Phelps. After his record in the 200 IM, a reporter confessed to Bowman that the media was running out of superlatives to describe Phelps.

"Tell me about it," Bowman said. "I am, too."

kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com