Phelps smashes world record as he claims his opening gold

Michael Phelps celebrates winning the Men's 400m Individual Medley with a new world record

'I told Bob (Bowman, Phelps' coach) that this would be my last 400 IM, so I've got to go out there and get a good time,' said Phelps. 'And this was a good time.

'I wanted to get 4.03, to be honest I didn't feel so good.

'I knew it was going to need a strong breaststroke when we all turned together at the wall. Then Ryan turned dead even at 200m, so I knew I was going to have to overpower them.'

Phelps' race was witnessed by United States president George W. Bush and his entourage, but the Baltimore native remained unfazed by the presence of so many dignitaries.

'Afterwards I looked up and saw President Bush giving me the thumbs up and holding up the American flag. That was pretty cool,' he said.

'I was pretty emotional after that race. I was not that comfortable in the first 200m.'

Despite his impressive performance, Phelps actually trailed at the first turn as Cseh went out hard in the opening 50 metres, but by the end of the butterfly leg the American was in front with Lochte pushing in the backstroke to keep up.

But an impressive breaststroke leg left Phelps well clear and he powered even further clear in the freestyle to leave the rest trailing in his wake.

Michael Phelps on his way to victory in the Men's 400m Individual Medley Final

Hannah Miley, Britain's first swimming finalist of the Beijing Games, finished sixth in the women's 400 metres Individual Medley as Australian Stephanie Rice matched Phelps by destroying the world record in her event.

Rice and Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry became the first women to go under
4:30 while Katie Hoff from the United States finished third, just outside the world record she set at the American trials.

'Going in fourth and coming out sixth is not what you want,' said Miley, who had set the fourth fastest time in the world prior to the Games.

'But it's my first Olympics and I have to take everything I can and learn from it.

'If I had swum faster in the heats and was in the middle of the pool maybe I could have got in the mix."

Jemma Lowe, meanwhile, qualified for the final of the 100 metres butterfly with her time of 57.78 equalling her personal best and placing her in sixth place for Monday's final.

Australia's Libby Trickett won Lowe's semi-final and is the fastest qualifier for the final, ahead of American Christine Magnuson.

Britain's Hannah Miley finished sixth in the women's 400m individual medley

'I had a really good feeling this morning,' said Lowe. 'I had a really good rest last night and I think practicing for morning swims at the trials really helped.

'Last night was really weird. I felt a bit rushed but this morning I felt more like I normally do in competition.

'I watched my race back from yesterday and thought the start wasn't so good and neither was my turn, so I went out a bit harder today. Hopefully I'll be able to give it that little bit more tomorrow.'

There was no such joy, though, for Chris Cook in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals.

Cook's time of 1:00.81 left him well outside the top eight as Norwegian Alexander Dale Oen set a new Olympic record to qualify ahead of world-record holder Kosuke Kitajima from Japan.

Australian star Grant Hackett saw his hopes of a medal in the 400m freestyle dashed by South Korean Park Tae-hwan, who took gold in a time of 3:41.86 ahead of China's first medallist in the pool, Zhang Lin, and American Larsen Jensen.

And Britain's women were well short of the pace set by the Netherlands as they
claimed gold in an Olympic record time of 3:33.76 in the 4 x 100m freestyle.

Fran Halsall touched the wall in second place at the end of the first leg but, despite the promising start, the British finished in seventh.