Phelps Recovers in Time to Help U.S. Win a Relay

Michael Phelps recovered from a stunning collapse in his first event of the World Swimming Championships -- he didn’t even advance past the preliminaries -- to lead off a dominating U.S. victory in the 400-meter freestyle relay Sunday night at Montreal.

Phelps, Neil Walker, Nate Dusing and Jason Lezak set a meet record with a time of 3 minutes 13.77 seconds, beating runner-up Canada by nearly three seconds. Australia won the bronze.

The relay victory put Phelps in a much better frame of mind after his performance in the 400 freestyle. He entered the event hoping to challenge Australian star Grant Hackett and get started on matching his six-gold, eight-medal performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Instead, Phelps didn’t even get past the preliminaries.

He faded badly after his last flip to wind up next-to-last in his heat and 18th overall. Hackett went on to an easy victory in 3:42.91, ending a streak of runner-up finishes that included the last two world championships and the Athens Olympics.

“I’m happier tonight than I was this morning,” Phelps said. “I’m pleased with my race. It’s definitely a step up from this morning, and we have more races ahead.”

In the relay, Phelps got off to one of his typically slow starts, touching fifth at the 50-meter mark. But he had the Americans out front by the time he passed off the pool to Walker.

The Americans broke the meet record set by Russia (3:14.06) two years ago at Barcelona, Spain, and won their first world championship in the event since 1998.

World-record holder Australia won the women’s 400 freestyle relay in 3:37.32, using a lineup that included Jodie Mills, Alice Mills, Libby Lenton and Shayne Reese.

France’s Laure Manaudou won the women’s 400 freestyle. Manaudou, the defending Olympic champion, built a big lead and won in 4:06.44. Japan’s Ai Shibata was second in 4:06.74.

South Africa’s Roland Schoeman set the first world record of the meet in the semifinals of the 50 butterfly with a time of 23.01, beating the mark of 23.30 set by American Ian Crocker last year.

Tennis

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak on clay to 34 matches by defeating third-seeded Gaston Gaudio, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, in the finals of the Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany.

It was Nadal’s eighth title this year -- tying ATP No. 1 Roger Federer. The French Open champion, whose clay-court record is 48-2, kept alive a winning streak dating to April -- the sixth longest in history. Gaudio started the match with a 37-7 record on clay.

Unseeded Robby Ginepri beat fourth-seeded Taylor Dent in the RCA Championships at Indianapolis and earned the second ATP title of his career when Dent retired in the third set because of illness caused by heat. Ginepri lost the first set, 6-4, but won the second, 6-0, and led, 3-0, in the third.

Pro Football

Running back Ricky Williams reported to the Miami Dolphins’ training camp in Davie, Fla., nearly one year to the day after he told the team he was retiring from football.

The 2002 NFL rushing champion decided to seek reinstatement after sitting out last season, saying at the time he’d lost the urge to continue playing.

He faces a four-game suspension at the start of the season for violating the league’s substance-abuse program, but probably will be able to play in exhibition games.

Pro Basketball

New York Knick owner James Dolan met with prospective coach Larry Brown, who had wanted to speak first with interim Coach Herb Williams.

The Knicks had not formally offered the job to Brown as of Saturday, but the implied message from team President Isiah Thomas was clear: The job is Brown’s if he wants it.

The Philadelphia 76ers and restricted free-agent center Samuel Dalembert agreed to the terms of a six-year contract, the player’s agent said.

Nicole Powell made five three-point baskets and scored 25 points, leading the host Sacramento Monarchs to their most lopsided victory, 91-51, over the Detroit Shock. The 40-point win is the fourth-largest margin of victory in WNBA history and surpassed the Monarchs’ team record 91-52 win over Minnesota on July 3, 2001.

Becky Hammon scored 11 points in the last five minutes to lead the New York Liberty past the Minnesota Lynx, 59-47, at Minneapolis.

Track and Field

Olympic champion Shawn Crawford has withdrawn from the 200 meters at the world championships because of a lingering foot injury, but he still plans to compete in the 100, his agent said.

Crawford’s withdrawal clears the way for Wallace Spearmon to compete in the 200 at the championships Aug. 6-14 at Helsinki, Finland.

Spearmon, the NCAA champion from Arkansas, has the two fastest times in the world this year but was fourth at the U.S. championships. The top three finishers make the U.S. team.

Spearmon won the 200 in a world-leading 19.89 seconds in the Crystal Palace meet at London on Friday. He ran 19.91 into a headwind to win the NCAA title June 11 at Sacramento.

Soccer

Italian league power Inter Milan has decided to go ahead with its preseason tour of England after initially canceling the trip over fears of terrorist attacks.

The team had canceled the trip Saturday in response to two waves of attacks on subway trains and buses in central London.