OMAHA, Neb. -- Michael Phelps is almost done at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. The superstar has one bit of unfinished business: the 100 butterfly and a showdown with world recordholder Ian Crocker.
Phelps must finish first or second Saturday night to ensure he swims eight events at the Beijing Olympics. Then he'll need to win them all to surpass Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in 1972.
Phelps heads into the final as the fastest qualifier with a time of 51.10 seconds. Crocker, who set the world mark three years ago, was second-best in 51.52.
Those two, along with Georgia swimmer Gil Stovall, were the only men under 52 seconds in the semifinals.
Every time Crocker has beaten Phelps in a 100 fly final, he's set a world record, including against Phelps at the 2004 trials.
"On the days I set records, if you ask me beforehand, I'd say, 'I don't know,"' Crocker said. "It's just one of those things, it happens or it doesn't."
The quiet Texan and the sport's biggest star have been the top two swimmers in the 100 fly since the 2003 world championships in Barcelona, where Crocker set his first individual world record.
"Michael is swimming really well and I'm feeling pretty good, so it should be an interesting race," said Crocker, who was disqualified for a false start in the 100 freestyle preliminaries. "I just want to get on the team."
He needs a top-two finish or the two-time Olympian will go home to his three cats in Austin, Texas.
"He's been waiting all week," Aaron Peirsol said of his training partner.
That's not the case with Phelps, who has four individual victories at the trials, including two world records.
His latest came Friday night in the 200 individual medley. He won in 1 minute, 54.80 seconds, lowering his old time of 1:54.98 set while he won seven events at last year's world championships in Australia.
Spitz, who was at the Qwest Center and presented Phelps with his award, believes the 23-year-old from Baltimore has a good chance to take down the Holy Grail of Olympic records. He came close four years ago, winning six golds and two bronzes at the Athens Games.
