200 metres Butterfly, Men

More than other event on his Beijing schedule, this race belonged to Michael Phelps. To put simply he had not lost a race at this distance for six years and had held the world record since 2001. Having already won three Olympic titles at Beijing it seemed inconceivable that he would not win a fourth. Phelps took the lead from Moss Burmester of New Zealand at halfway and, despite having problems with water leaking into the goggles, swam away from the rest to record his sixth world record at the distance. Behind him László Cseh, Jr. and Takeshi Matsuda became the second and third swimmers to break 1:53 for the distance. The victory brought Phelps’ gold medal tally up into double figures to either equal Ray Ewry’s record of 10 Olympic victories or break the record of nine held by four other Olympians. This depends on your view of the official status of the 1906 Olympic Games.