There's no fury like a riled Michael Phelps

MEMO to any swimmer planning on racing Michael Phelps for the rest of his career.

Do not criticise him publicly, do not question his decisions, do not look at him the wrong way, do not do anything that might get him riled. Be respectful, be nice, bore him to death with your admiration if possible.
Otherwise he will do to you what he did to Milorad Cavic in the 100m butterfly at the world championships in Rome.
Phelps, the winner of 14 Olympic gold medals and 21 world titles, has won many great races during his dazzling career and this one will stand with the best, not just because it had developed into the grudge match of the world championships but because Phelps had to overcome both adversity before the race and an opponent, Cavic, who publicly and repeatedly challenged him.
For starters, Phelps was wearing his outdated Speedo suit, which has been superseded by this year's full polyurethane style. Then there was an accident during his warm-up which almost put him out of the race.
Phelps, 24, had a full speed collision in the warm-up pool with Australia's teenaged sprinter Cate Campbell, who was doing backstroke in the same lane.
Their heads clashed, Phelps' goggles snapped across his nose, his shoulder was wrenched and he saw stars. Campbell was virtually unhurt, saying later that "it was nothing that a couple of Panadol wouldn't fix".
Phelps clearly came off worse. When his horrified coach Bob Bowman got to the swimmer his vision was blurry and his left shoulder was sore.
"I thought I had enough room to kick past Cate but I kind of broke right on her. I hit the back of her head and I think we smashed shoulders," Phelps recalled later.
"We were all a bit freaked out about it."
Bowman asked if he needed a doctor and considered pulling him out of the race.
"Bob said to me, 'if it's bad we won't swim'. But I said, 'I am not doing that'," Phelps said.
His mind was already focused on a re-match with Cavic after the two butterflyers had staged the closest swimming race at the Olympic Games a year earlier.
The big Serbian had spent much of the week in Rome baiting Phelps in one way or another.
First he recalled the virtual deadheat the two had staged in Beijing. Cavic went into the wall first, but Phelps came out with the gold medal, after activating the touchpad more forcefully.
Then he insisted that he would personally organise a full polyurethane suit for Phelps, so that if the American lost the 100m butterfly he would not have the excuse of inferior suit technology.
"If Mike wants an Arena, he just has to say it," Cavic said.
"If he wants a Jaked and they don't want to give it to him free, I'll buy it for him. He has options. I think in the media it's been portrayed that he has no option, he has to swim for (Speedo). It's a complete lie."
Such talk merely inspired Phelps.
Cavic took the race out hard. By the turn he led by the best part of a body-length. Phelps was at his knee and it seemed impossible that he could make up that much of a margin before the finish. But Phelps kept closing, kept striving for the wall, and by the last stroke he was in control.
He stopped the clock in 49.82sec, becoming the first man to break the 50-second barrier. Cavic also went under, clocking 49.95sec. Australia's Andrew Lauterstein, the Olympic bronze medallist last year, finished fifth in a personal best time of 50.85sec.
Cavic was gracious afterwards, saying he respected Phelps and had never "attacked" him.
"Michael Phelps is Michael Phelps, and he does what he does, and he did," the Italian-based Serbian said.
"I knew if I was to win, I needed a big enough lead to beat Michael, but when I turned he was much closer than I expected. He was too close for my comfort."
Phelps though was in his element.
"The coolest thing is having races like this because it brings out the best in everyone and that's what sport is all about," Phelps said.
"You really have to go to that next level when you are racing someone like this.
"There are always things that fire me up and motivate me. That's just how I tick. It gives me extra motivation when there are comments said. I think it makes it more exciting."
Bowman said Phelps' performance in the 100m butterfly was "way up there. This is probably as good as it gets because he had to overcome adversity."
Brazil's Cesar Cielo became only the third man to claim both the 50m and 100m freestyle at one world championships.
Cielo, coached by Australian Brett Hawke at Auburn University in Alabama, defeated his training partner Fred Bousquet, while fellow Frenchman Amaury Leveaux took the bronze. It was a heroic effort from Leveaux whose father died during the championships.
Cielo swam the fastest lap of his life, clocking 21.08sec.