SWIMMING: PHELPS STILL GOING AT A RECORD PACE.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services MELBOURNE, Australia -- With Michael Phelps For the American biophysicist, see . Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American swimmer and World Record Holder in several events. in the pool, the rest of the world is swimming for second place. The American set his third world record in as many days, winning the 200-meter individual medley at the 12th FINA FINA Fédération Internationale de Natation (French: International Swimming Federation; Lausanne, Switzerland; formerly Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur) World Championships Thursday. "Michael is just out of reach," bronze medalist Laszlo Cseh of Hungary said. Phelps used the same strategy he employed in winning the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly -- go to the lead off the starting blocks and stay there. He came home in 1 minute, 54.98 seconds, bettering his old mark of 1:55.84 set in August at the Pan Pacific Championships. "I went out there and went after it," he said. "Why stop something that works?" The televised red line showing how close swimmers are to world-record pace was on Phelps' rear as he cruised to the finish ahead of teammate Ryan Lochte Ryan Lochte (born August 3, 1984 in Canandaigua, NY) is an American world record swimmer who won medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle relay swimmer. , beating his previous best by 0.86 seconds. Lochte settled for the silver in 1:56.19. Cseh, the European champion, finished third at 1:56.92. Phelps became the first swimmer to win three world titles in the 200 IM and earned his record 14th world championship medal. He has also set world records in the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly. His first gold came as part of the 400 freestyle relay. Not to be outdone out·do tr.v. out·did , out·done , out·do·ing, out·does To do more or better than in performance or action. See Synonyms at excel. by Phelps, the U.S. women's 800 freestyle relay took back the world record from Germany, winning by 3.73 seconds after barely scraping into the final. Natalie Coughlin Natalie Anne Coughlin (born August 23, 1982 in Vallejo, California) is a United States swimmer and represented the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze. , Dana Vollmer Dana Vollmer (born November 13, 1987 in Syracuse, New York) is an American swimmer who presently competes at the college level at Cal-Berkeley. Though born in New York, she was raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex suburb of Granbury, Texas. , Lacey Nymeyer and Katie Hoff Kathryn ("Katie") Hoff (born June 3, 1989) is an American swimmer. She trained with Michael Phelps in Baltimore, at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and is currently trained by Paul Yetter. She holds the American record in the 200 meter individual medley at 2:10.05. were under world-record pace all the way and finished in 7:50.09 for the 10th world record of the meet. The night's most popular victory belonged to Aussie Jessicah Schipper, who had the home crowd roaring when she won the women's 200 butterfly in 2:06.39. Kim Vandenberg, a 23-year-old former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX standout, was the surprise silver medalist in a lifetime-best 2:06.71. Vandenberg, who moved into third on the U.S. all-time list, nearly quit swimming a year ago to get a real-world job, but decided to stay in the sport with the support of her family and friends. "This is the biggest competition I've ever had in my life. This moment tonight was what pushed me," she said. "It makes me want to train even harder and get faster. It's so amazing swimming in Australia next to Jessicah. She really pushed me to do my best. I thank her a lot for my improvement." American Leila Vaziri equaled her world mark in winning the 50-meter backstroke, a non-Olympic event, in her world championships debut. The 21-year-old Indiana University student first set the mark of 28.16 in Wednesday's semifinals and matched it in the final. |
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