Shanghai Day 4: Phelps Is Ok, Pellegrini Shines

Michael Phelps won the 200 fly, ok? He's still pretty good at that event, in fact he's now never lost it at a World Championship meet where he's actually swam it. That's extremely impressive but also a reminder of the herculean standard that he always has to live up to. If he wins we all shrug our shoulders. If he loses we all go to Defcon 5. Here are my other highlights from Day 4 finals in Shanghai:

Femke Heemskerk flew off the blocks in the 200 freestyle, but Federica Pellegrini had the race under control the entire way. She blew past most of the field on the second 100 to finish in the gold medal position. Heemskerk, meanwhile, ended up with the splits of an overzealous age grouper. Somewhere I am picturing a very frustrated Jacco Verhaeren.

The men's 800 free was all Sun Yang, as like Lotte Friis he led wire to wire. Unlike Lotte Friis, however, he still looked catchable for most of the race. Ryan Cochrane managed to sit on Yang's hip for the majority of the race but was unable to make a move. Gergo Kis used a crazy 26.6 final 50 to blow past Ous Mellouli for bronze.


In the 200 IM, Lochte and Phelps showed that they could be faster than anyone else going 80-90%. I'll leave the rest of this race for Lisa later in the day.

Finally, in the most important event of the day: the 50 Breaststroke. Unfortunately for fans of classy celebration, Felipe Silva won and immediately started thrashing the water behind him and preening on the lane line. C'mon Van Der Burgh!