Michael Phelps broke his world record in the 200 individual medley
Saturday night, winning the event at the U.S. championships in 1
minute, 55.94 seconds.

Phelps, ahead of world record pace at every turn, beat by one-tenth
of a second the mark he set at the world championships at Barcelona
on July 25. It's the fourth time he has set the world record in this
event this year. Since late June, he has progressively lowered by
more than 2 seconds the mark that had stood since 1994.

"I think I shocked myself tonight, for sure," said Phelps, who had
warned not to expect another record because he would be tired from
racing his 23rd race in 19 days.

But, buoyed by the crowd, he led by a full length after the initial
butterfly leg. He punched the air several times when he saw the
result at the finish and pointed to his head, a rare display of
emotion from the usually calm 18-year-old Baltimore native.

The celebration, as it turned out, was from winning a bet that his
coach would shave his head if Phelps broke 1:56. His first words to
coach Bob Bowman after the race were: "It's gone. It's gone."

"That was a big motivator going into tonight," Phelps said. "I have
the little things that really push me."

With the victory, Phelps became the first man to win five individual
events at a national championships. He also won the 100-meter, 200-
meter and 400-meter freestyle races as well as the 200-meter
backstroke at the weeklong event. He set a personal best in all five
events and set American records in the 400-meter freestyle and the
200-meter backstroke.

Tracy Caulkins (1978) and Natalie Coughlin (2002) are the only other
Americans to win five individual races at the nationals. Phelps
shared the men's record of four with Johnny Weismuller, Mark Spitz
and Tom Dolan.

Phelps had one race remaining. He was to swim the butterfly leg of
the 400 medley relay, the final event of the championships later
Saturday night.

Phelps, considered the top U.S. swimmer headed into next summer's
Olympics in Athens, set five world records at the world championships
last month.

Phelps said Saturday's race was more of an adrenaline swim because of
his grueling schedule. He sped to a 25.15-second butterfly leg and
hung on, a change from his usual strategy of even pacing throughout
the race.

"There are certain times and places for this," Phelps said. "Right
now, being at the end of this season, that's a pretty good strategy.
But if I had done that at the worlds, it would have come back and
haunted me."

Phelps now gets a well-deserved break from racing, with his next
competitive meet scheduled for November in Australia.

That doesn't mean he'll take a break from swimming, though. He said
he'll take maybe four or five days off before resuming his
preparations for Athens.

"I guess I'm kind of antsy when I spend too much time out of the
water," he said.