Three with a splash

Beijing

History is unfolding, and the view from the pool deck is just as incredible as it is from the stands.

Not only is Michael Phelps three for three in his quest to surpass swim legend Mark Spitz's record seven gold medals in one Olympics, his run is assisting, and ultimatelyelevating, his U.S. teammates.

This was on full display this morning at the Water Cube. Phelps' world record in the 200-meter freestyle was followed by six more medals for the Americans, including gold-medal performances from Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol, the latter also in a world record in the 100 backstroke.

Funny, but Phelps and Peirsol were Olympic roommates eight years ago in Sydney, teenagers giggling over girls and decorating their room with posters. Now they are redoing their resumes with Olympic gold medals and world records.

Phelps erased the tension almost immediately, leading by the first 15 meters and then seeming to shift into cruise control, lowering his own world record in the 200 freestyle, going 1 minute 42.96 seconds.

Next up was Coughlin, who defended her Olympic title in the 100 backstroke, in 58.96, an American record. Then Peirsol lowered his own world mark in the 100 backstroke, going 52.54. American teammate Matt Grevers was second in 53.11.

"What Michael's doing, it is elevating everybody else's performance here," Piersol dsaid. " . . . I don't think we could have planned it any better. The U.S. team is absolutely snowballing, totally."

An interesting word from the Orange County-raised Peirsol in hot, humid Beijing, no less. But you get the idea.

He was indeed accurate. Rebecca Soni of USC's Trojan Swim Club took second in the 100 breaststroke, and Peter Vanderkaay was third in the 200 free. Margaret Hoelzer took the bronze in the 100 backstroke.

The latter race had Coughlin slightly in disbelief.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," she said. "When I first saw the time, I thought they made a mistake. It was a very fast time. When I saw the one by my name, I thought they had made a mistake."

Peirsol did his worrying beforehand, saying he spent a nervous night thinking about the rapidly improving Grevers and the rest of the field.

"I don't know if you can compare it," said Peirsol of his Olympic repeat of his 2004 win in the 100 backstroke. "Just in the sense that you never get used to it. It just feels as wonderful as it did the first time."