Phelps Sets World Record

Michael Phelps set a world record for the first time since 2004, lowering his own mark in the 200-meter butterfly at the Pan Pacific Championships on Thursday night.

The American came from behind on the final lap to win in 1 minute, 53.80 seconds. His old mark of 1:53.93 came at the 2003 world championships in Barcelona, a prelude to the Athens Olympics, when he won eight medals, including six gold.

Takeshi Matsuda of Japan was second in 1:56.22 and Ryuicihi Shibata of Japan finished in 1:56.26.

Checking his time on the board, Phelps screamed, “Yeah!”

“When the crowd is cheering, you can always tell that something good is happening,” he said. “I heard it coming off the last wall especially and I tried to do a good kickout and build momentum in the last 50.”

About 10 minutes before Phelps dived in, Jess Schipper of Australia won the women’s 200 butterfly in a world record of 2:05.40.

That bettered the mark of 2:05.61 set by Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland at last year’s world championships in Montreal.

The U.S. and Japan were tied atop the medal standings with eight each after one night of competition. The evening’s only upset came in the 100 backstroke, with Hanae Ito of Japan beating world record-holder Natalie Coughlin of the U.S.