The king may have been dethroned, but only for 24 hours. After a controversial loss to Paul Biedermann in yesterday's 200-meter freestyle, Michael Phelps regained his familiar spot atop the podium today at the World Swimming Championships in Rome, with a decisive victory in his signature event, the 200-meter butterfly.

Phelps broke his own world record in the win, eclipsing the mark he set at the Beijing Olympics by a half-second. Much like yesterday's result when Phelps lost to the upstart Biedermann (and his Arena X-Glide bathing suit), today's was fully expected. Even a buoyant, propelling suit isn't enough to beat Phelps in the 200 fly.

It was in this event that Phelps first emerged on the world scene, earning a bid to the 2000 Athens Olympics in the event as a 15-year old. Since the 2003 World Championships, Phelps has not lost the 200 fly in any major event. That streak continued in Rome, as he went wire-to-wire and won with ease, more than seven-tenths of a second ahead of the silver medalist.

If Phelps was out to prove something with that swim (and how could he not have been after the events of yesterday), he succeeded. He showed that he's still in peak form and that, even with a waist-high Speedo LZR, can still lap the field in certain events.

Whether or not the world record proves Phelps is better than he was in Beijing (as was suggested on TV) is up for debate. At the Olympics, the 200 fly came in the middle of the program. Because Phelps was such an overwhelming favorite (he went off at -5000 to win), he appeared to take the race fairly easy.

What isn't up for debate is that Michael Phelps is still the best swimmer in the world. The four-year winning streak may have been snapped yesterday, but maybe a new one began today.