Phelps stayed close over the outward lap and rallied on the return to become the first swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly, beating the Serbian with a time of 49.82 on Saturday at the World Championships in Rome.
Cavic also broke 50 seconds, but 49.95 was only worth silver. He wasn't nearly as close as last year's Beijing Olympics, when Phelps famously won by one-hundredth of a second in a race Cavic always maintained that he touched first. Recently there has been an issue about swimsuits, with Cavic offering to buy Phelps one of the faster polyurethane suits such as he wears. Phelps ignored the offer and used it as motivation.
"There are always things that fire me up and motivate me," Phelps said. "That's just how I tick."
MORE SWIMMING: Three other world records were set in Rome, bringing the total to 39. Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took down her own mark in the 200 backstroke, winning in 2 minutes, 4.81 seconds. China claimed the record in the women's 400-meter medley relay. Li Zhesi finished it off in 3:52.19 to beat the mark set by Australia (3:52.69) at the Beijing Olympics. The winning team also included Zhao Jing, Chen Huijia and Jiao Liuyang. In a semifinal heat of a non-Olympic event, Britain's Liam Tancock set a world record of 24.08 in the 50 backstroke.
Cesar Cielo of Brazil completed a sweep of the freestyle sprints with the 50-meter title. Cielo added to his title in the 100 with a one-lap time of 21.08.
TENNIS: Second-seeded Venus Williams advanced to the finals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., beating third-seeded Elena Dementieva, 6-0, 6-1.The third-ranked Williams will be seeking her third title at Stanford in her first appearance since 2005. Williams beat Dementieva for the sixth consecutive time and improved to 9-2 against her. Williams has not won an outdoor U.S. hardcourt tournament since 2002, something she will try to remedy against France's Marion Bartoli, who beat Australia's Samantha Stosur, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the late semifinal match. ...
Qualifier Carsten Ball has reached the finals of the L.A. Open by beating Leonardo Mayer, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). Ball advanced to his first career ATP Tour final and will play the winner of the second semifinal between top-seeded Tommy Haas and sixth-seeded Sam Querrey.
WATER POLO: Serbia won a shoot-out at the world championships in Rome, claiming the gold medal in men's water polo, 14-13, over Spain, which had tied the game in regulation with 11 seconds left. Croatia defeated the United States, 8-6, to win bronze. The United States women's team won its second straight worlds gold medal, beating Canada, 7-6, on Kelly Rulon's penalty shot with 3:42 left.
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