Unstoppable Phelps makes it a hat-trick of gold medals as he sails home again

Phelps' time of 1 min 42.96 secs was almost a full second under the mark he set at the world championships in Melbourne in March last year and the American was so dominant he had clear water between himself and second placed Park Tae-hwan of South Korea.

Number one: Michael Phelps celebrates another gold medal and another world record in the men's 200m freestyle swimming final.

The American's ninth career gold medal tied him with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi and Larysa Latynina for the most in Olympic history.

Racing out of lane six, Phelps quickly surged to the lead and led by a full body length halfway through the second of four laps. Phelps was nearly two seconds ahead of the  ield when he touched in, breaking the mark 1:43.86 he set at last year's world championships, and securing one of only two titles he missed out on in Athens four years ago.

'I wanted to try and get out into open water and I was in the outside lane so
it was kind of difficult for the others to see me,' said Phelps.

'I just wanted to get out there and try and hold on. I knew Tae-hwan was going
to have a good last 50, so I tried to start as far ahead as I could in the first
100 to 150.'

Britain's Robbie Renwick finished eighth behind Phelps in a time of 1:47.47 and
the 20-year-old was just relishing the experience gained from swimming against
one of the greats of the sport.

'I saw him miles ahead and I was just focusing on my own race,' he said. 'It's a good result for me.

'I'm only 20 years old and getting all the experience and hopefully by 2012 I will be at my peak.

'It's pretty cool to say I have been in that race. It's not every day you can say you are in an Olympic final. It's an experience money can't buy. It's priceless.'

Phelps is now 3-for-3 in Beijing, keeping him on course to beat Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single Olympics.

Phelps will go for his fourth medal and 10th overall on Wednesday in the 200 butterfly, yet another event in which he holds the world record.

Another world record was smashed today by Phelps' American colleague Aaron Peirsol, who won the 100m backstroke as Britain's Liam Tancock finished sixth.

Tancock, the world record holder in the 50 metre event, led the field at the turn with a split well inside world record pace but the early exertions caught up with the 23-year-old and he was steadily reeled in by Peirsol and the rest of the field.

Peirsol touched the wall in a time of 52.54 secs, 0.35 secs under the mark he set at the US trials in July, to finish ahead of compatriot Matt Grevers and Russian Arkady Vyatchanin, who took the bronze medal.