Teenaged swimmer Michael Phelps of the United States broke his own world record in the 200-meter individual medley Saturday, at the U.S. Swim Championships in College Park, Maryland.
Racing for the 23rd time in just 19 days, the 18-year-old from nearby Baltimore touched the wall in a time of one minute and 55.94 seconds. That lowered the old mark, which he set July 25 at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, by 1/10th of a second.
Phelps smashed an unprecedented five world records at the world championships last month. His record-setting performance Saturday came after Phelps swam to victory in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyle and the 200-meter backstroke, all in personal best times.
By setting American records in the 200 and 400 freestyles and 200 individual medley in College Park and the 400 individual medley and 200-meter butterfly in Barcelona, Phelps becomes the first man to own five U.S. records since Mark Spitz from 1972 to 1974.
Phelps does not plan another competitive swim until November in a World Cup event at Melbourne, Australia. But his fantastic finish at the U.S. swim championships will help bring him back into the pool to resume training next week after a brief break.