US swimmer Michael Phelps competes to win the men's 400m individual medley swimming final at the National Aquatics Center at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 9, 2008 in Beijing. Phelps won his first gold medal at the Beijing Games. Agencies]

The Americans are sure lucky to have Phelps, who is already recognized as the greatest swimmer ever — sorry, Mark — and plans to keep competing at least through the 2012 London Games.

After another trip to the medals podium, he flipped his flowers to mother Debbie, tears pouring down her face as she proudly watched from a front-row seat with her two daughters.

Everyone wanted to get a look at history, including the U.S. men's basketball team. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were among those cheering on Phelps from poolside seats. James posed for pictures with Phelps' mom.

Three worlds records fell before Phelps even walked on deck the first time. By the end of the morning, six new marks were set. It was impossible to win gold without putting up the fastest time in history.

So much for concerns that morning finals would hurt the competition.

In the semifinals of the 100 free, Australia's Eamon Sullivan and France's Alain Bernard played takeaway with the record Sullivan set two days earlier.

In the first heat, Bernard won in 47.20 to knock down Sullivan's mark of 47.24 from the leadoff leg of the memorable 400 free relay. That record lasted all of two minutes. Sullivan won the second heat in 47.05, setting up a thrilling showdown in Thursday's final.

"Records don't mean much," Sullivan said. "They don't win medals at the end of the day, unfortunately. But it gives me confidence that I can swim my own race under pressure."

American Jason Lezak, who chased down Bernard in the relay, advanced to the final with the sixth-best time, 47.98. The other U.S. swimmer, Garrett Weber-Gale, failed to advance.