Phelps rises to challenge

Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic to the punch again yesterday, and this time he earned a clear decision by smashing the 50-second barrier in the 100m butterfly final at the World Championships.

The American superstar clocked a world record 49.82 seconds to beat his Beijing Olympic rival by 13-hundredths of a second.

Phelps had beaten Cavic by just one one-hundredth of a second in Beijing, and the Serbian turned this World Championships showdown into a grudge match.

Phelps's victory celebration was fierce. When he saw his time, he hoisted himself on the lane rope and yelled, smacking the water in triumph.

"You can tell after my celebration that it satisfied me a little bit," Phelps said.

Cavic had looked to have the upper hand heading into the final. He broke Phelps's world record in the semi-finals with a time of 50.01.

The Serbian also ratcheted up the rhetoric when he offered to obtain one of his new-generation polyurethane suits for the American, who has stuck to his older model.

"It doesn't matter about the suit, it's about how you train," Phelps said.

Cavic also broke 50 seconds, but his 49.95 was good enough only for silver.

"Michael Phelps is Michael Phelps, and he does what he does - and he did," Cavic said of the swimmer who electrified the Beijing Games last year with an unprecedented eight gold medals.

Spain's Rafael Munoz was third in 50.41.

Brazilian Cesar Cielo joined a select group with his triumph in the men's 50m freestyle.

His win in 21.08 seconds made him the third man to complete the 50-100m free sprint double at the World Championships.

Cielo beat French world record-holder Frederick Bousquet in the 50, Bousquet taking silver in 21.21.

France's Amaury Leveaux was third in 21.25.

Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry nabbed her third straight 200m backstroke world title in a world record of 2:04.81.

Coventry lowered her own previous record of 2:05.24, set in winning Olympic gold in Beijing.

Russian Anastasia Zueva was second in 2:04.94 and American Elizabeth Beisel third in 2:06.39.

China's women won the 4x100m medley relay in a world record of 3:52.19. Zhao Jing, Chen Huijia, Jiao Liuyang and Li Zhesi delivered the victory with Olympic champions Australia second in 3:52.58 and Germany third in 3:55.79.

Denmark's Lotte Friis triumphed in the women's 800m freestyle in 8:15.92. Britain's Joanne Jackson was second in 8:16.66 and Italy's Alessia Filippi was third in 8:17.21.

Australia's Marieke Guehrer won the women's 50m butterfly in 25.48. China's Zhou Yafei was second in 25.57, barely edging Norway's Ingvild Snildal who took bronze in 25.58.

Waterpolo: Men's final - Serbia vs Spain 7-7 aet (Serbia win 7-6 on pens).

Maltese swimmers

It was the turn of the girls 4 x 100 medley relay team to register another Maltese national limit yesterday.

The quartet, made up of Nicole Cremona, Melinda Sue Micallef, Davina Mangion and Talisa Pace swam their morning heat in 4 minutes 34.92 seconds to eclipse the previous mark of 4:35.11.

Earlier, Pace and Micallef teamed up in the 50-metre freestyle dash, with the former finishing in 28.04 and the latter in 28.28, while Micallef was again in the water swimming the 50 breast in 35.77.

Mark Sammut clocked 29.82 in the 50 Back, a personal best and a group 'D' record, which erased the 16-year-old mark of 29.88 set by Christian Gialanze.