The 18-year-old from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club continued his
global dominance of swimming, as he was the only double-winner on Day One
of what was billed as the biggest swim meet in this city since the 1956
Olympics.
Approximately an hour after his American mark in the 200 fly, Phelps
took the 100-meter individual medley.
Phelps is regarded as the world’s No. 1 swimmer after an
unprecedented year, but that status is based on his performance in 50-meter
pools.
World Cup meets are contested in 25-meter pools, where the 6-foot-4
Phelps feels more confined, but he responded today with his first American
record on a metric short-course, as he covered the 200 fly in 1 minute,
52.27 seconds.
That shaved .72 off of Olympic champion Tom Malchow’s old national
mark.
Phelps took the 100-meter individual medley in 53.30, a half-second off the American
record. Training partner Kevin Clements was third.
“Coming in tonight, I was just trying to go out and have some fun,”
Phelps said. “In the 200 fly, I wanted to break the American record, I was
five-tenths under that, so I was pretty happy with that.
“I wanted to see
how close I could get to the [100 individual medley] record here,” he added. “I was three-tenths off,
but that’s my fastest time by a second.”