Michael Phelps broke his own record in the 200-meter butterfly on day four of the FINA world swimming championships.

The victory came just 24 hours after the disappointment of his silver-medal finish in the 200 free. After that race, Phelps went back to his hotel, traded text messages with friends for an hour and then got his first good night of sleep since his arrival in Rome 10 days ago. One friend's supportive text message read: "I know you hate getting second, so if you want to call and let out some emotion, I'll be glad to listen."

But Phelps has always been the type who responds better to butt kicking from defeats than back patting from friends.

Tyler Clary, the other U.S. entrant in the race, said he could see it, too. "I could tell by his demeanor in the ready room that he looked like he was going after it," said Clary, who placed fifth. "He just looked like nothing was getting in his way."

Phelps’ reaction time off the blocks, .63 seconds, was the fastest of the eight finalists. Phelps used to be a horrible starter who was also very poor on the turns, but now is often first or second off the blocks and usually makes up ground or extends his lead pushing off the wall. His first three splits in Rome (24.76, 28.12 and 29.05) were aggressive. He seemed to take an extra long glide off the third wall in order to set himself for the final lap. After he finished, Phelps spotted his mother and sister in the stands, held up one finger and patted the water.

On top of all that... he survived a harrowing experience with a bong a few months back. Great job all the way around, Michael! Stoners can lead the world, too!