ROME, ITALY American Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal of the world swimming championships when he beat Serbian loudmouth Milorad Cavic, becoming the first swimmer to break 50 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly.
Phelps beat Cavic with a stunning time of 49.82 at the championships. Cavic also lost to Phelps at the Beijing Olympics, where Phelps won by the narrowest possible margin. Cavic repeatedly claimed to have beaten Phelps in Beijing, despite the fact that all electronic and photographic evidence shows Phelps won. Without that win over Cavic, Phelps would not have broken Mark Spitz's record for most gold medals in one Olympiad.
Cavic had claimed Phelps' loss to German Paul Biedermann was because the American swimmer wore a Speedo suit that isn't as fast as the fully rubberized models such as the Arena Astro-Glide, which both Bierdermann and Cavic wear. The Serbian had offered Phelps an Astro-Glide, but said he would really prefer to race Phelps wearing nothing but briefs, so everyone would know who the best man is without any help from the suits.
Going one better, Phelps refused the suit altogether, saying, "That's just how I tick."
