 Phelps left his rivals trailing on the final length |
American Michael Phelps and Australia's Jessicah Schipper broke the men's and women's 200m butterfly world records at the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps broke his own mark, clocking one minute 53.80 seconds to shave 0.13 seconds off his previous best.
He was pushed by Japan's Ryuichi Shibata until the final 50m before surging clear in Victoria, Canada.
Schipper, the 100m butterfly world champion, won in 2.05:40, beating the existing record by 0.21 seconds.
She finished well clear of the field, with Japan's Yuko Nakanishi claiming second in 2:06.52 and team-mate Yurie Yano third.
Phelps, who won six golds at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said: "It's a good start to the meet. I've wanted to do a best time in that event for a while now.
"(Coach) Bob Bowman and I were talking about having a strong kick off the last wall. I did that and was able to build some good momentum.
"When the crowd is cheering like that you always know something good is happening."
Shibata finished second in 1:55.82. Phelps's previous record was set in Barcelona in 2003.
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