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Associated Press 19y

Hackett upstages Phelps talk with second gold

MONTREAL -- If Michael Phelps is going to be the star of the
World Swimming Championships, he'll have to fend off Grant Hackett.

The Australian set a world record in the 800-meter freestyle
Wednesday night, his second gold and third medal of the
championships. His time of 7 minutes, 38.65 seconds broke the mark
set four years ago by countryman Ian Thorpe.

Hackett was more than five seconds under Thorpe's pace at 600
meters, but it got tight at the end.

When Hackett touched the wall, his head popped out the water and
he turned to look at the scoreboard. "Yeah!" he screamed upon
seeing the time -- 51-hundredths of a second under Thorpe's record.

Hackett finished about a half-second ahead of silver medalist
Larsen Jensen of the United States. Thorpe is skipping this year's world championships.

Hackett turned toward the stands and held aloft his right index
finger, a proper indicator of his status as the world's best
long-distance freestyler and most prolific medal winner in meet
history.

"I have to be on my toes all the time," said Hackett, savoring
his 15th world championship medal -- two more than anyone else.

Phelps had his busiest day of the championships, swimming four
times to qualify for the finals of the 100 free and 200 individual
medley.

No slip-ups this time.

"It's pretty much downhill from here," Phelps said. "I have a
morning to sleep in, then let loose tomorrow night."

The 20-year-old American is on pace to win seven medals, but
Hackett isn't done, either. The 1,500 free is his signature event
and he'll anchor the Aussies in the 800 free relay, expected to be
a spirited battle with Phelps and his U.S. teammates.

Phelps is used to being the biggest thing at the pool, a
once-in-a-generation swimmer who can do amazing things every time
he dives in. It began with the 2003 championships in Barcelona and
continued through the Athens Olympics last summer.

That's why it was so stunning when he failed to qualify for the
final of the 400 freestyle, where he had hoped to challenge
Hackett.

Phelps' coach has yet to figure it out.

"It seems like he's normal," Bob Bowman said. "I don't know
what the hell the problem was Sunday."

A few hours after his flop, Phelps led off an impressive
American victory in the 400 free relay. On Tuesday, he held off
Hackett in the 200 free, capturing a second gold and breaking the
American record in the process.

"If we ever wanted to know about his character, I think it
showed the last 48 hours," Bowman said. "It was good to deal with
something like that."

On Wednesday, Phelps got through two preliminary swims in the
morning and two semifinal races in the evening -- both times about
an hour apart. He was the top qualifier in the 200 IM and
fifth-fastest in the 100 free.

"Things are going much better than they did the first day," he
said. "I seem to be improving throughout the meet, so I can't
complain right now."

Two years ago, Phelps had his breakout performance at the world
championships, winning five golds, seven medals overall and
becoming the first swimmer to set five world records at a single
meet.

He did one better in Athens -- six golds, eight medals in all and
an everlasting place as one of the greatest athletes in Olympic
history.

But, as Bowman pointed out, Phelps can't keep outdoing himself.
He's got to slow down a bit, try new things, prepare himself to be
at his best three years from now in Beijing.

"If you look at his linear progression, it pretty much goes
like this," Bowman said, moving his right hand steadily upward.
"I don't think he can be up all the time. He can't do it every
year until 2008."

With that in mind, Phelps dropped the 400 IM and 200 butterfly
for this meet, even though he was the world record holder,
defending Olympic champion and virtually assured of victories in
both. He substituted the 100 and 400 free, looking to stay
motivated and give himself a few more options before the Beijing
Games.

The 400 didn't work out.

The 100? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, on a damp, rainy night at Parc Jean-Drapeau, Pawel
Korzeniowski of Poland took advantage of Phelps' absence in the 200
fly to win the gold. His time of 1:55.02 seconds was more than a
second off the American's world record.

Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took second, China's Wu Peng third.

Thirty-five-year-old Mark Warneke of Germany won the 50
breaststroke in 27.63, holding off American Mark Gangloff and
Japanese Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima. Warneke had just missed
a medal at the last world championships, finishing fourth in the 50
breast.

Solenne Figues of France captured gold in the women's 200
freestyle, winning in 1:58.60. Italy's Federica Pelligrini was
second, while Yang Yu of China and Josefin Lillhage of Sweden
shared the bronze.

Phelps will be an overwhelming favorite in the 200 IM, but the
100 free is a tougher challenge. Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling
of South Africa appear to be the swimmers to beat at that distance.

Still to come: a duel with American rival Ian Crocker in the 100
butterfly, plus two more relays that should produce medals for
Phelps.

Somewhere down the road, he'll give the 400 free another try.

"He will definitely do it again," Bowman said, his face
morphing into a devilish grin.

"Hey, he's off tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll time him again in
the morning. I'm sure he would go faster than he did the other
day."

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