Phelps leaves Manchester with only one individual win

Eight-times Beijing Olympic champion Michael Phelps finished the two-day Duel in the Pool contest yesterday with just one individual win from four races.

Phelps swam throughout the meeting between the United States and a European selection in the textile shorts which will be mandatory from Jan. 1 next year.

His opponents were uniformly dressed in the polyurethane bodysuits which will be banned after the swimming governing body FINA decided they artificially boosted performances. More than 250 world records have been set in the polyurethane suits.

The Americans easily won the team event against a side comprising competitors from Britain, Italy and Germany by 185-78.

They also set each of the eight world short-course records broken at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

On Friday, Phelps, who was swimming for the first time in a British pool, won the 100 metres butterfly by five-hundredths of a second and finished third in the 100 freestyle.

He finished third again in yesterday's 200 freestyle and was beaten into second place in the 200 butterfly, one of his Olympic titles, by Briton Michael Rock.

He did, however, have the consolation of helping the Americans to set world records in the 4x100 medley and freestyle relays.