Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly at the US swimming championships on Thursday, nabbing the 50th national title of his career with a time that put a smile on his face.

Phelps clocked 50.65sec, fastest in the world this year, and said he was pleased with the effort a day after bemoaning a “terrible” performance in winning the 200m fly.

“I was real happy with that. I wanted to put some distance between my time and the (previous) fastest time in the world,” said Phelps, who surpassed the 51.70 set by Evgeny Korotsyshkin. He was comfortably in front of runner-up Tyler McGill (52.20), with Timothy Phillips third in 52.41.

“My stroke felt a lot better, my walls were better. I felt more myself going into the race tonight,” said Phelps, who has struggled for consistency this year after a break from his usual arduous training regimen.

Phelps’s 50 national titles are the most of any US swimmer.

Tracy Caulkins is next on the list with 48.

Rebecca Soni delivered her trademark strong finish to win the women’s 100m breaststroke in 1:05.73, another fastest time in the world this year.

Soni, who saw the world record she set in winning the 2009 world title eclipsed last August by team-mate Jessica Hardy, trailed Hardy narrowly at the turn, but powered home as Hardy faded to seventh.

Ann Chandler was the surprise runner-up in a quality field that also included 2000 Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick and 1996 silver medalist Amanda Beard.