Phelps takes back world record

The message was clear: Don't mess with Michael Phelps.

Cal graduate Milorad Cavic tried to get in his head and wound up looking at his back, losing again to the swimmer who beat him at the Beijing Olympics.
This time, there was no doubt about it.
"There are always things that fire me up and motivate me," Phelps said Saturday, after recapturing the world record in the 100-meter butterfly. "That's just how I tick."
Phelps rallied on the return leg to beat Cavic with a stunning time of 49.82 seconds at the world swimming championships in Rome. Cavic also broke 50 seconds, but 49.95 only got him a silver.
He wasn't nearly as close as last year's Olympics, when Phelps famously won by one-hundredth of a second on the way to eight gold medals, over Cavic's objections that he actually touched first.
When Phelps saw he had won, he ripped off his swimcap, raised his arms with defiance and tugged on the front of his Speedo LZR swimsuit — which he said was a response to Cavic's offer Friday to buy Phelps a more technically advanced suit if he couldn't get one for free. Cavic had taken the record from Phelps in the semifinals with a time of 50.01.
"I've never seen him that emotional," said Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman.
Phelps broke his goggles on another swimmer's head during a collision just more than an hour before the race. He had blurred vision in his left eye and a sore left shoulder, but it didn't stop him.
"When i race Michael Phelps, I want him at his best," said Cavic, a Serbian-American from Tustin. "Because only when he's at his best could I ever feel like I've gotten the race I wanted. I want the atmosphere, I want the experience to be everything that it was tonight.
"My only regret is I let the media make what it makes of it all."