International Capsules: Seven more worlds records knock off Beijing

ROME — When in Rome, throw out the record book.

No need for one at the fastest show on water.

Even with Michael Phelps sitting in the stands, seven more world records fell Thursday. For those who’ve lost count, that’s 29 over five days at the Foro Italico — and there’s still three days to go at the world championships.

At last summer’s Beijing Olympics, swimmers broke 25 records at the Water Cube, and the world thought that would be tough to beat.

Records fell so fast in Thursday’s nine events that the crowd barely had time to cheer one swimmer before another mark dropped.

So, is this a good thing? Or does it cheapen the coin of the realm, so to speak?

"It’s hard to say," said Australia’s Jess Schipper, who got in on the fun by taking down the old standard in the 200-meter butterfly.

"It’s been a very exciting meet. It’s been very fast. But we all knew it was going to be fast coming in here, so nobody can say that they didn’t expect this. I think that the world records, while they may have been helped with the suits, it still has a lot to do with the swimmer and the work you’ve put in."

Mark Spitz found the whole thing so amusing he released a statement to The Associated Press saying he was planning to get back in the pool, as long as he could wear one of the high-tech bodysuits that are helping set all these fast times.

"The suits that are breaking world records are so good that today I am announcing my comeback, effective immediately and ending on Dec. 31, 2009," the 59-year-old winner of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games said, all in jest.

Another former Olympian, Janet Evans, told the AP she’s worried that high-tech bodysuits are threatening to "make a mockery of the sport."

Ryan Lochte got things rolling Thursday by breaking Phelps’ mark in the 200-meter individual medley, with the former record holder cheering him on. The Chinese women finished it off with a flourish, taking down the 800 freestyle relay mark by more than two seconds in a thrilling race with the hard-charging Americans, who also broke the previous record but only got silver.

For the most part, the swimmers are just enjoying the ride, knowing this might be as fast as they’ll ever swim and have it count. Some of these records could stand for years, even decades, if FINA follows through on its plan to ban bodysuits in 2010 and ensure that next-generation attire is made from textile fabrics instead of buoyant materials such as polyurethane.

Soaking up some rays on the sunny side of the stadium, a bare-chested Phelps joined in the celebration when Lochte touched in 1 minute, 54.10 seconds. That broke Phelps’ gold-medal time of 1:54.23 from Beijing, and Lochte did it wearing the year-old Speedo LZR Racer, just like Phelps the previous night when he broke his own world record in the 200 butterfly.

"Everyone is complaining about all these new suits, blah, blah, blah, and I go out there and wear the same suit that’s been out there and I just give it to them," Lochte said.

He would have liked Phelps in the water, not the stands. Phelps actually had an entire day off, the benefits of a reduced schedule in Rome. Not quite as fit as he was last year, he dropped both the 200 and 400 individual medley from his program.

"It feels good to do that (world record), but at the same time I wish he was doing it," Lochte said, referring to his biggest rival. "I love a challenge. And I love racing against him, because he is one of the best swimmers ever. Anytime I can race against him, I would be more than happy to."

Although his swimsuit may be out of style, Lochte did break out a new set of "grillz," blinging up the medal stand and bringing a little levity to the ceremony, as he did after winning his first world title at Melbourne two years ago.

"They’re just all silver diamonds on them, but this time the diamonds, they’re a little bigger so they can shine a little bit more," Lochte said with a grin.

Laszlo Cseh of the Hungary took the silver in 1:55.24, and American Eric Shanteau captured his first major international medal with a bronze.

Shanteau competed at last year’s Olympics after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, and his perseverance paid off on a very strong night. He also posted the second-fastest time in the semifinals of the 200 breaststroke, surpassed only by — what else? — a world record, this one by Australia’s Christian Sprenger in the first heat.

In one of the most anticipated races of the night, Brazil’s Cesar Cielo became the first swimmer to break 47 seconds in the 100 freestyle and have it stand, holding off France’s Alain Bernard.

Cielo won the furious down-and-back race in 46.91, beating Eamon Sullivan’s mark of 47.05 set during the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics.

Bernard won the Olympic gold when he beat Sullivan in the final. But the big Frenchman had to settle for silver in Rome at 47.12, with countryman Fred Bousquet also reaching the medal stand in third.

Cielo won the 50 free in Beijing, and now he’s got a 100 title on his resume.

"I’m a lot more mature," said Cielo, who broke down in tears on the medal stand. "I learned a lot, grew up a lot and I’m stronger, too. It all just came together."

Bernard did break 47 seconds this year in the 100 free, but his mark was thrown out because his suit had not been approved by FINA. Eventually, the governing body cleared just about every suit for the world championships, while vowing to rein things in next year.

Canada’s Annanmay Pierse set a standard in the women’s 200 breast during the semifinals. Her time of 2:20.12 beat Rebecca Soni’s record of 2:20.22 from Beijing, but the American will have a chance to take the mark even lower when they meet in the final Friday.

China’s Zhao Jing won the women’s 50 backstroke, a non-Olympic event, in 27.06 seconds. That knocked off the record set a day earlier by Russia’s Anastasia Zueva (27.38), who didn’t even get a medal, as it turned out. She finished fourth in the final.

Schipper rallied on the final lap of the 200 breast to win in 2:03.41 seconds. That beat the 2:04.14 posted a day earlier by American Mary Descenza in the preliminaries. Like Zueva, Descenza not only lost her record but a medal by finishing fourth.

Schipper had barely climbed from the water when fellow Aussie Sprenger won his semifinals heat of the 200 breast in 2:07.31, edging out Japanese star Kosuke Kitijima’s mark of 2:07.51 set in 2008.

China had the final record of the night, edging out the American women in the 800 free relay. The Chinese built a big lead and held on to win in 7:42.08, which easily surpassed the mark of 7:44.31 set by Australia at the Beijing Games.

The U.S., with Allison Schmitt putting on a furious charge from the anchor leg, was second in 7:42.56.

Column: Too skimpy no longer swimsuit issue. Too fast is

The latest swimsuit smackdown has nothing to do with Sports Illustrated’s annual edition, though it got off to a racy enough start earlier this week. That’s when the back of Ricky Berens’ body-hugging outfit ripped, baring his butt just as he was diving into the pool at the world championships.

No one is snickering now.

Once the records started tumbling — again — the focus shifted from questions about dodgy fashions to issues of fairness. With three days of competition left, 29 marks have already been erased, including seven in just 13 races Thursday. All of a sudden, there is enough finger-pointing on the pool deck in Rome over who’s wearing what to put the catwalks in Milan to shame.

For the longest time, swimming was one of those sports that seemed too simple to mess up. Official Olympic lore has it that there wasn’t any real organized competition until 1837, when the National Swimming Society of Great Britain was formed. And for the next 160 years, the one and only innovation was credited to an Englishman named J. Arthur Trudgeon, who returned from a trip in the 1870s and convinced his countrymen to abandon the breastroke for an alternate-arm, overhead stroke favored in South America.

Then came the 2000 Olympics, and manufacturers who couldn’t leave well enough alone. Speedo rolled out a suit called the "Fastskin" — using V-shaped ridges resembling shark scales, on the theory they would similarly reduce drag in the water — and the competition was on. Eight years later in Beijing, swimmers wearing Speedo’s LZR suits accounted for 23 of the 25 world records that were broken, and advances in the shape and material of the suits by rival manufacturers have only accelerated the trend.

Credit FINA, the sport’s international governing body, with recognizing the problem and promising a new set of regulations in 2010, possibly as early as next spring. Unfortunately, those restrictions will come too late to save what should have been the sport’s showcase event this year.

Even worse, it’s forcing those inside the sport to choose sides, usually between manufacturers, about where to draw the line. Bob Bowman, who had no problems when his star pupil, Michael Phelps, was hauling in gold medals and world records by the armful wearing an LZR suit, is suddenly worried about integrity. He threatened to keep Phelps out of the pool at any race that allows competitors to wear swimsuits from two Italian companies that appear to be faster still.

Fortunately, Phelps climbed back into one of those year-old suits, went out and set another world record in the 200-meter butterfly. Though he warmed up in a full-body suit, just before the race, Phelps switched to one that stretched only from his waist to his ankles.

"He just said it felt too tight and he took it off. Then I noticed he hadn’t shaved his chest," Bowman recalled later, "but I’m like, ‘Don’t worry about it. I don’t think you have much hair."’

Margins that slim routinely decide races, which is why FINA better get it right. It has to cater to fans who wouldn’t mind seeing world records fall every night. Then it has to satisfy manufacturers who pour millions into the sport and won’t hesitate to bring in the lawyers. More important, FINA has to stop this run on the record book. For all the confidence it’s inspiring, there might as well be a poolside dry-erase board.

Coming up with a solution won’t be easy, and even then, it’s a holding action at best.

And remember: Naked is not an option. Those who think the way to end the debate is by returning to the Olympics’ origins have it all wrong. While the ancient Olympians probably would have competed in the buff — as competitors in all sports did back then — swimming wasn’t included in the program until the modern games. But as all those people who tracked down video of Berens’ uniform malfunction suggest, it certainly wouldn’t have hurt the sport’s popularity.

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org

Spain knocks off U.S.; Serbia beats Croatia

ROME — Guillermo Molina scored three goals, including the go-ahead score with 3:38 remaining, and Spain advanced to the gold medal game of the men’s water polo world championships with a 7-6 victory over the United States on Thursday night.

Layne Beaubien’s shot from 5 meters was stopped with 3 seconds remaining. Jeffrey Powers scored twice for the U.S. and Merrill Moses made 11 saves.

Spain advanced to face Serbia in Saturday’s title game. Filip Filipovic scored four goals to lead a 12-11 victory over defending world champion Croatia, which will meet the Americans for bronze.

Filipovic broke a 9-all tie late in the third period, and Serbia held on at the end. Croatia had a man advantage but Sandro Sukno missed a shot with 6 seconds remaining.

Vanja Udovicic added three goals for the Serbians. Miho Boskovic had three goals for Croatia.

Serbia will be going for its first title since splitting with Montenegro. Together, the countries won the 2005 water polo championships.