If breaking Mark Spitz's record of eight gold medals in a single Olympics was Michael Phelps' Everest, then the 100-meter butterfly world record was his Kilimanjaro. Held for six years by Phelps' American rival, Ian Crocker, the 100 fly mark was the only event in Phelps' normal repertoire that he didn't hold. Until Thursday.

Phelps smashed Crocker's world record at the U.S. Swimming Nationals in Indianapolis, lowering the mark by .18 seconds. After relatively disappointing swims in two earlier wins, Phelps swam perhaps the best sprint of his career on Thursday:

(My Spanish has always been dicey -- just ask my freshman year GPA -- but even with my limited understanding I can tell that that's one of the worst calls I've ever heard to any sporting event. They're talking about reaction times off the block when the field is turning at the 50-meter mark. That guy must be like the Tony Siragusa of the Spanish-speaking world.)

It'd be foolish to read too much into one meet but, judging by Phelps' results in Indy, could it be that his new concentration towards sprinting has come at the expense of his dominance in the longer events? Phelps owned the 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley for most of his career, but he has dropped the latter from program and looked beatable in the former. It's something to look out for at the World Championships later this month in Rome.