World Swimming Championships

Times staff writer Lisa Dillman’s eighth-day highlights from Melbourne, Australia:

Fly Michael fly: It’s time for a new point of view on the latest chapter of Michael Phelps’ global domination, 2007.

Albert Subirats Altes of Venezuela had the best look at the two best swimmers of a generation in the 100-meter butterfly. He was in Lane 5 for Saturday’s final, settled in between Phelps and Ian Crocker, and went on win a bronze, 1.05 seconds behind the winning effort of Phelps.

“I was definitely in the middle of that fight,” said the Arizona-based swimmer, who won the first-ever medal for his country at worlds. “He [Phelps] is unbelievable. He’s by far the greatest swimmer of all time. There’s no question.”

The latest installment of Phelps vs. Crocker was a tense one. At 50 meters, Phelps was behind by close to half a second. He was behind until nearly the end, winning with his final stroke. Phelps won in 50.77 seconds, and Crocker took the silver medal in 50.82.

“Honestly, I thought I botched the finish,” Phelps said. “But it ended up being good enough. I thought I was long on the finish and I didn’t think it was good. As soon as I did that, the last stroke, I was like, ‘Well, there’s the race.’ ”

Not quite. The finish was enough to beat Crocker, giving Phelps his sixth gold medal in six events. It was the first final of an individual event in which Phelps did not break a world record. Crocker still holds the world mark, 50.40, set at the world championships in 2005.

Said Crocker: “It’s a David and Goliath story, so it’s hard to get up and slay the dragon every time, but I’m happy to be the guy who can get the job done at times.... Knowing that he’s having the meet of his life, I was expecting him to go very fast and he did. I’m just glad I still hold the world record at this point.”

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Duel in the Pool: The shocking disqualification of the U.S. men’s medley relay team actually brings an element of some meaning to the U.S.-Australia duel in the pool on Tuesday in Sydney, which seemed to become a glorified exhibition for Phelps and Co.

The top 12 teams in the relays at the worlds automatically qualify for the Olympics in 2008. Four other teams make it on the basis of the fastest times “achieved in the 15-month period before the Olympics.” The medley relay team could quickly erase any doubts with a fast time in Sydney.

U.S. assistant coach Eddie Reese was not exactly sure about the process, but pointed out the obvious, saying: “There are probably a number of places to qualify. I don’t know how they do that. We don’t normally have to worry about it.”

*--* MEDAL TABLE

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* United States: 31 -- 17 gold, 12 silver, two bronze.

* Australia: 17 -- Seven gold, four silver, six bronze.

*--* QUOTES OF THE DAY

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ON THE WEB

For updates on today’s competition at the World Swimming Championships, go to latimes.com/sports.