World Swimming Championships

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

1 All About Michael: After Michael Phelps’ third world record in as many days, the latest in the 200-meter individual medley, the thesaurus was tossed aside and the search continued to put his feats in a proper context. Talk turned to the likes of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.

Venerable USA swim coach Jon Urbanchek had his own submission, saying: “It’s more like Michael Jordan -- way out there.” The first hint that something unique might unfold for Phelps here came at a relatively small meet last month, the Missouri Grand Prix, in which he broke his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly.

“Being able to set a 200 fly world record with a full goatee, hair coming out of my cap, and totally not in a really strong racing state was something that surprised me and shocked me a little bit,” Phelps said. “Right then and there, I thought something special could happen this year.” He has four gold medals in four races, and the three world records have come in the 200 freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. He broke his own world records in the latter two and took out Ian Thorpe’s mark in the 200 free.

2 History Can Wait: Kim Vandenberg of UCLA was at a career crossroads at this time last year: Should she keep swimming or get a job? Everyone around her voted in favor of staying in the pool.

“It was a big decision, a life decision,” said Vandenberg, who has a degree in history. “ ... I’ve just taken it a lot more seriously, more time, more training trips. Changed a lot of my lifestyle habits.”

Her decision turned out to be an excellent one. Competing in her first world championships, Vandenberg finished second in the 200 butterfly, only 0.32 behind Australian world-record holder Jessicah Schipper. Vandenberg’s time of 2:06.71 was her fastest in this event, a big drop from her previous best of 2:08.22 in February.

UP NEXT

Men’s 50 freestyle: Splash and dash. This could be the world’s true introduction to American Cullen Jones, in a race that will be held Saturday in Australia, late this evening in the United States. Though he won two golds last summer at the Pan Pacs, this is his first world championships.

Men’s 100 butterfly: Another installment in the compelling rivalry between Phelps and Ian Crocker. The rap-music lover (Phelps) against the Bob Dylan man (Crocker). For Phelps, it could be his fourth individual gold medal. A gold medal for Crocker could be subtitled after a certain album by his hero, “Bringing It All Back Home.”

TODAY’S FINALS

* Women’s 100 freestyle

* Men’s 200 backstroke

* Women’s 200 breaststroke

* Men’s 200 breaststroke

* Men’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay

MEDAL TABLE

* United States: 19 -- 11 gold, seven silver, one bronze.

* Australia: 11 -- Four gold, one silver, six bronze.

THURSDAY’S FINALS

Men’s 200 individual medley: Michael Phelps, 1:54.98

Men’s 100 freestyle: Filippo Magnini (Italy), 48.43

Women’s 200 butterfly: Jessicah Schipper (Australia), 2:06.39

Women’s 50 backstroke: Leila Vaziri, 28.16

Women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay: United States (Natalie Couglin, Dana Vollmer, Lacey Nymeyer, Katie Hoff), 7:50.09

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Tara Kirk, American breaststroker, on Phelps:

‘He’s such a phenomenon. He’s like a mutant or something. He’s just going for best times now, and they happen to be world records.’

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Pieter van den Hoogenband, the Dutch star, on fleeing the 200 freestyle and Phelps to concentrate on the 100:

‘I think I need all my energy betting on one horse....I was one of the few people on this planet who never lost a race against Michael Phelps. The (200) final, he was bringing swimming to another level.’

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Aaron Peirsol, on whether he took any pride in chasing Phelps out of the 200 backstroke:

‘I don’t know if I chased anyone out of this event. Michael is one of those guys that can swim anything he wants.’