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| Sunday, 27 July 2003 |
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Unstoppable Phelps revels in record feat BARCELONA, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps said "everything is possible" after setting two world records less than 50 minutes apart on Friday. Phelps, 18, first added the 100 metres butterfly mark at the world championships to the three records he already owns. After a quick swim to loosen up and gobbling an energy bar, he then shattered his own 200 individual medley record against a field that included Australian world and Olympic freestyle champion Ian Thorpe. "I wouldn't say anything is impossible," the teenager from Baltimore told a news conference. "I think everything is possible if you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it." He added: "I think your mind controls everything. You can set standards that no one else can set ... but your mind pretty much controls it all." Phelps set the 100 butterfly record in the semi-finals with a time of 51.47 seconds. He broke the record of 51.76 seconds set just minutes before by Andriy Serdinov of Ukraine in the previous semi-final heat. The final is on Saturday night. Less than 50 minutes later, Phelps set a new world mark in the 200 individual medley with a time of one minute 56.04 seconds. The time eclipsed the mark of 1:57.52 he had set on Thursday in the semi-finals. Friday's swim was the third time Phelps has broken the 200 individual medley record in less than a month. "Heading into that event, my goal was to rebreak the world record," Phelps said. "I definitely knew it was going to be tough." Thorpe finished second in a personal best of 1:59.66 and Massimiliano Rosolino of Italy was third. Thorpe, who has branched out into the individual medley, said training for the event had helped his freestyle. However, expectations he could win the event were unrealistic, he added. Winning "wasn't going to happen", Thorpe said. Phelps, who also broke his 200 butterfly mark at the championships and holds the 400 individual medley record, has been listening to a compact disc of "The Eminem Show" by rapper Eminem as he walks onto the deck before races. "Just listening to that really fires me up," he said. However, he is not sure of the name of the song he listens to. Sitting on the dais with Phelps, Rosolino said: "The first thing I'm going to do is buy that CD. All the songs, I'm going to listen to them all. One would have to work." |
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