PIECES OF EIGHT

BEIJING -- Michael Phelps knew what he was talking about all these years about being the first Michael Phelps and not the second Mark Spitz.

Second to none.

That's what Phelps became this morning at the Water Cube, winning his eighth gold medal, the most at a single Olympics, surpassing the legendary and seemingly untouchable mark set by Spitz in 1972.

The new legend, not a soggy imitation, was written by the 23-year-old Phelps with emphatic, bold strokes in this nine-day meet. He won eight golds in eight finals, seven of them in world-record times.

Eight was enough for Phelps. He and his 400-meter medley relay teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak set the world record in 3 minutes 29.34 seconds, lowering the previous mark of 3:30.68, set by the U.S. at the 2004 Olympics.

"Everything was accomplished," Phelps said. "What else could I do?"

Phelps was the third leg of the relay, the butterfly, and he hit the water in third place, taking over from the breaststroker, Hansen. By the time Phelps got it to Lezak, the Americans were in first.

Lezak, armed with a lead, brought it home strongly and didn't have to stage a furious finish as he did in the 400 freestyle relay earlier in the meet.

"It's been such an unbelievable roller coaster," Phelps said. "It's been such an unbelievable ride. With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it took was a little imagination.

"I don't know what to feel right now. It's so emotional. All I want to do is go see my mom."

And he did just that, looking like one of those tennis players who climb into the stands to celebrate with their families after winning a Grand Slam event.

Phelps waded through a battery of cameras to find his emotional supporters, his mother, Debbie, and his two sisters, Hilary and Whitney.

The pressure on the other relay members was a different kind of stress. Risk-reward ratios were fairly daunting in Phelps Watch. On one end is a gold medal and a world record; at the other, always the potential of being the swimmer who sank Phelps.

Even one of the best relay closers in the sport, Lezak of Irvine, acknowledged high anxiety. And Lezak, at 32, is the oldest male on the U.S. team, and this is his third Olympics.

"To be honest, I was thinking not to blow the lead," said Lezak, who leaves Beijing with two relay gold medals and a bronze in the 100 freestyle. "I was really nervous going into this race. I just wanted to take it out as hard as I could and hold on as strong as I could."