Phelps continues to cruise in 200 freestyle, qualifies fourth for finals

Michael Phelps wasn't in first at the end of his 200-meter freestyle semifinal heat Monday morning at the National Aquatics Center.

But he was in the right heat, as seven of the eight qualifiers for the championship came from his heat inside "The Water Cube."

American Peter Vanderkaay, the last man to defeat Phelps in the 200 free, recorded the fastest qualifying time of 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a little more than three-tenths off his best time from last year's summer nationals in Indianapolis.

South Korean star Tae Hwan Park, who captured the gold medal in the 400 free Sunday morning, was second in 1:45.99 and South Africa's Jean Basson (1:46.13), the winner of the first semifinal heat, qualified third.

Phelps, who was more focused on leading off the Americans' 400 free relay later in the morning, cruised to the fourth-fastest time of 1:46.28, well off his world record of 1:43.86, set at last year's World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Since taking third behind Australia's Ian Thorpe and Dutch legend Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 free in 2004 -- one of his two bronze medals in Athens -- the Beijing Games mark the 19th time Phelps has competed in the event. He has only lost in the championship heat twice.

Phelps took third behind Andy Hunter of Scotland and former USC All-American Klete Keller in the final of the Eric Namesnik Grand Prix, on May 19, 2006, in Ann Arbor, Mich., and was defeated by Vanderkaay -- 1:46.78 to 1:47.09 -- on April 4 at the Toyota Grand Prix at The Ohio State University in Columbus.

But Vanderkaay, Park and Bilson are going to have to produce the best swims of their lives to prevent Phelps from becoming the first American to win gold in the event since Bruce Furniss led an American sweep in Montreal.