Phelps returns to form in 200

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MONTREAL - Michael Phelps made it through the morning.
One day after flopping in the preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle, Phelps breezed into the final of the 200 free at the World Swimming Championships yesterday.
Phelps seemed to be back on form, posting the best time in the semifinals, but his first individual medal of the worlds will have to wait until at least today, when he finally gets a much-anticipated race against Australia’s Grant Hackett.
Phelps failed to qualify for the final of the 400 free and ruined any chance of matching the eight medals he won at the Athens Olympics last summer, but he put up a 1:46.33 in the 200 semis while an energy-conserving Hackett settled comfortably in fourth.
“I wanted to go out there and be the first seed,'’ Phelps said. “I wanted to show that the first race wasn’t how I planned to swim the whole meet.'’
Hackett, who has the 800 free preliminaries this morning, didn’t want to burn himself out in the 200. He was pleased with a time of 1:47.66.
“It was a really controlled swim,'’ Hackett said. “I wanted to do it with a minimal amount of energy.'’
The highlight of the night was another showdown between Brendan Hansen, who holds world records in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke, and Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, who swept Hansen in those events at the Athens Olympics last summer.
Eager for redemption, Hansen got another chance at the world championships, with Kitajima in the very next lane for the 100 final.
Hansen took control in the first 50 and touched first in 59.37 seconds - just off the record of 59.30 he set at last year’s U.S. Olympic trials. Kitajima was second in 59.53.
When Hansen saw his name atop the scoreboard, he splashed the water in delight. France’s Hugues Duboscq won bronze.
“Everyone keeps asking me, `What was that extra thing I had tonight?’ ‘’ Hansen said. “It was definitely emotion. Not many people get a second chance, so I didn’t want to screw it up twice.'’
The record-breaking yesterday was left to Roland Schoeman and Jessica Hardy - one to be expected, the other a total shocker.
Schoeman won the 50 butterfly and broke the world record he set just a day earlier in the semifinals. He held off American Ian Crocker in a furious dash from one end of the pool to the other, touching in 22.96.
Crocker claimed the silver in the non-Olympic event, followed by Sergiy Breus of Ukraine.
Hardy, an 18-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., got off the block quicker than anyone in the 100 breaststroke and never faltered down the stretch, posting a time of 1 minute, 6.20 seconds. That broke the record of 1:06.37 set two years ago by Australia’s Leisel Jones.
In the women’s water polo competition, Canada sent the home crowd into a frenzy and the United States stayed on track for another world championship.
Cheered on by 5,000 fans packing the temporary venue in Parc Jean-Drapeau, the Canadians rallied for an 8-6 overtime victory against Greece in the quarterfinals. The U.S., which won the 2003 title in Barcelona, moved into the semifinals by beating Australia, 8-5.
Canada will meet Hungary in tomorrow’s semifinals, while the U.S. faces Russia.