As Roman speed show carries on, Phelps prepares for showdown with German surprise Biedermann

Phelps faces big challenge at worlds in 200 free

ROME — Michael Phelps is wearing a swimsuit that’s sooooo last year.

He might wind up regretting his choice of attire.

It doesn’t happen very often, but Phelps actually looks vulnerable in one of his signature events. He’ll dive in for the finals of the 200-meter freestyle at the world championships Tuesday against an up-and-coming German, a guy who’s already shown he has no regard for the swimming elite.

Paul Biedermann erased Ian Thorpe’s name from the record book.

Now he’s ready to take on Phelps.

Bring it on, Phelps replied.

“I never back down from a challenge,” he said Tuesday morning after coasting through to the next round of the 200 butterfly. “I love challenges.”

But this isn’t just Phelps vs. Biedermann. You see, at a record-breaking meet that is as much about what everyone is wearing as it is about the swimmers, the German will dive into the water in an Arena X-Glide, a polyurethane suit that is generally considered faster than Speedo’s once-revolutionary LZR Racer.

Acknowledging the disadvantage, Speedo gave all its swimmers a chance to switch to another suit if they felt it would improve their chances. But that wasn’t really an option for Phelps, who’s been sponsored by the company since he was a teenager and earns millions for wearing its suits.

Biedermann believes the Arena suit improves his times by as much as two seconds, a staggering edge in a sport often decided by hundredths of a second.

“You guys heard me the first day. I said I wasn’t going to talk about the suit,” Phelps told reporters. “I’m here to swim at the world championships, so keep asking questions about suits and you’re going to get the same exact answer.”

Biedermann grabbed the prime No. 4 lane for the 200 final by breezing through the semifinals Monday in 1 minute, 43.65 seconds — within striking distance of Phelps’ world record of 1:42.96.

Phelps won the first semifinal heat in 1:45.23, then watched Biedermann’s performance from the deck. Impressive stuff.

“It’s going to be good,” Phelps said Tuesday. “Hopefully I can get some rest today and be ready to make it a race. He’s been swimming really well. He’s probably the swimmer who’s having the best meet so far. Being able to race him head-to-head is going to be fun.”

After the prelims, Biedermann said he didn’t expect to put up much of a fight against Phelps. The German sounded a lot more confident following the semis.

“I thought Phelps would do better,” Biedermann said. “I didn’t give it my all in the last 50 meters. It’s going to be a close race.”

But Phelps usually rises to the occasion in situations like this. He managed to beat Ian Crocker at the 2004 Olympics when it looked like he was beat. Last summer at Beijing, he somehow touched ahead of Milorad Cavic when the big Serb thought he had won, which would have kept Phelps from capturing a record eight gold medals.

And remember, Phelps hasn’t lost a major individual race since July 30, 2005, when Crocker beat him in the 100 butterfly at the Montreal world championships. He went 5-for-5 at the 2007 worlds in Australia and matched that feat in Beijing, to go along with three relay wins.

Bowman shrugged off talk about the suits and said he expects Phelps to be at his best, as he usually is when he feels the odds are against him.

“I have a feeling we’re going to have some fire,” the coach said. “At least one guy — MP — I think will bring the heat.”

The Americans could use a jolt. They’re off to a disappointing start in Rome, winning only two medals — granted, both were gold — over the first two days of swimming. At the last worlds, they won 20 golds and 36 medals overall in the pool, a daunting target at this stage.

The U.S. finished fourth — just off the stand — four times through the first eight finals, along with a fifth. Eric Shanteau, who put off cancer treatment to compete at the Beijing Olympics, was the latest to miss. He took fourth in the 100 breaststroke Monday, failing to improve on his top qualifying time from the semis.

“The men are hurting right now,” Bowman said. “We need to get going. As a team, we’ve had a lot of fourth places that needed to be medals, and that’s not due to the suits. We need to step up. Where we have a chance to win, we need to win.”

No one was more disappointed than Aaron Peirsol, the world record-holder and two-time Olympic champion in the 100 backstroke. He was stunningly knocked out in the semifinals, caught off guard by the lightning-quick times that turned the record book obsolete.

There’s been a staggering 11 world records set at the final major meet for high-tech bodysuits, with six more days still to go. The suits — some made of 100 percent rubber — will be banned starting in 2010, but that’s not soon enough for swimming purists who believe this Roman speed show is nothing more than a sad spectacle ruining the integrity of the sport.

The swimmers already have surpassed the nine worlds records set at the 2005 worlds and they’re closing in on the 15 marks that fell at the last championships two years ago.

Peirsol was wearing one of those newfangled suits, but it sure didn’t help. His time of 53.22 seconds was nearly a full second behind the top qualifier, Japan’s Junya Koga, and a tenth of a second out of the eighth spot, the last that advances to the final.

Peirsol lingered in the water, staring at the scoreboard in disbelief. Finally, he climbed out of the pool and walked across the deck, his hands on his hips, clearly disgusted. Less than three weeks earlier, he had pushed the world record to 51.94 at the U.S. nationals.

In Rome, he couldn’t even make the final.

Meanwhile, the record-breaking carried on at a staggering pace Monday.

—Brenton Rickard of Australia set a world standard in the very first event, winning the 100 breaststroke in 58.58 to take down Kosuke Kitajima’s mark of 58.91.

—Sweden’s 15-year-old Sarah Sjostrom broke the record she set a day earlier in the semifinals of the 100 butterfly at 56.06, shaving nearly four-tenths off the 24-hour-old record.

—Ariana Kukors provided a rare bright spot for the struggling American team in the 200 individual medley, beating Olympic champion Stephanie Rice of Australia in 2:06.15. That was nearly a full second faster than Kukors’ record swim in the semis, and even more amazing when one considers she didn’t even qualify for this event at the U.S. nationals. Kukors got the spot when Elizabeth Pelton dropped out to concentrate on the 100 back, a move that backfired when the teenager didn’t even make the final.

—Rebecca Soni of the U.S. and Russia’s Anastasia Zueva both set world records in the semis. Soni’s time of 1:04.84 in the 100 breaststroke beat Leisel Jones’ three-year-old record of 1:05.09, while Zueva won her heat of the 100 back in 58.48, wiping Kirsty Coventry’s mark of 58.77 off the books.