Phelps - This Is Incredible...

He was timed in 1:52.03, 0.67 second ahead of the runner-up, Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. Who else but the best could swim a 200 butterfly as if trapped in a washing machine, his sight obstructed by tiny bubbles, and still complete the race faster than anybody in history?

"I couldn't see anything for the last 100," said Phelps, who said he gauged where the walls were by counting his strokes. He could not tear his goggles off because he was wearing two caps and the strap was safely tucked between them.

clipped from www.iht.com In a sport where races often are decided by hundredths of a second, Phelps, 23, has won three of his five golds here by a margin of 1.89 seconds or more. "There's nobody in any sport that can win like he wins," Reese said. "He's not just winning, he's crunching world records and crunching the fields. It's amazing." Phelps has not lost a final in the 200 butterfly since the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan, stringing together 24 consecutive victories over the past six years.