One stroke from history

And, yes, the never-ending story is Phelps, who is becoming a man of spectacular repetition at the Water Cube. Friday morning, he won his sixth gold medal of these Games and 12th overall. Another gold medal. Another world record. Another bouquet given to a proud family member in the stands.

Phelps lowered his own world mark in the 200-metre individual medley, winning in 1 minute 54.23 seconds. Finishing second and third were two familiar figures in Phelps8217;s vast wake. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary, who took second to Phelps in the 400 individual medley, won silver again, in 1:56.52, and Ryan Lochte grabbed the bronze in 1:56.53.

Cavic can?

Then there was his next act. It8217;s all about the time element around here, and Phelps was equally impressive, having only seven minutes from the medal ceremony to get out to the blocks for his semi-final of the 100 butterfly. 8220;I didn8217;t know I had as little time as I had,8221; said Phelps.

He also got past that hurdle with little trouble, putting up the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100 fly, in 50.97, just behind Milorad Cavic. Cavic swims for Serbia but he was born in Anaheim and went to Tustin High School. Ian Crocker, the world-record holder, tied for the third-fastest time 51.27. So an American-born swimmer, Cavic, might stop one of the best US sports stories in decades. 8220;It8217;d be good for the sport and good for him if he lost. Just once,8221; Cavic said, smiling.

Could Cavic disrupt the script? Well, it did go off a bit here before Phelps got the morning back on message.

The prelude to Phelps8217;s win was a dizzying whirl of results. Alone, in a non-Phelps world, they ordinarily would be headlines. Rebecca Soni staged perhaps the biggest upset on the women8217;s side since Misty Hyman stunned Susie O8217;Neill in the 200 butterfly eight years ago in Sydney.

Soni, who had a heart operation in 2006, won gold in the 200 breaststroke in a world-record 2:20.22, crushing the current holder, Leisel Jones, by 1.83 seconds.

Lochte8217;s first gold

Next was another upset, though not nearly as big as Soni8217;s. Lochte won his first individual gold medal, unseating the defending Olympic champion, Aaron Peirsol, in the 200 backstroke. It was a repeat of his win over Peirsol at the world championships. Lochte lowered his own mark this morning despite, well, an equipment malfunction, going 1:53.94 to Peirsol8217;s 1:54.33. 8220;It just felt good the whole way,8221; Lochte said. 8220;My suit came undone in the first 50. I was just trying to keep my legs going for the last 100 as much as possible.8221;

Natalie Coughlin increased her career Olympic medal total to 10 overall with her bronze in the 100 freestyle. She took third, in 53.39, behind Britta Steffen of Germany 53.12 and Libby Trickett of Australia 53.16.

Coughlin has won five medals here, two in relays and the other three in individual events, including a gold in the 100 backstroke.