ROME — Michael Phelps wouldn't take the bait. He'll settle this one at the pool, in the race that really matters, wearing his same ol' suit.

Milorad Cavic, of Serbia, can have the spotlight. For now.

Still convinced he beat Phelps at the Beijing Olympics, Cavic took some verbal jabs at Phelps yesterday — then took away his world record in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly.

"They know I'm a player," Cavic boasted. "They know I've got a great deal of speed."

Phelps, who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, wasn't too bothered about giving up his record.

He knows the real race is today.

"I try to keep most comments to myself to fire me up on the inside," Phelps said, savoring his third gold medal of the championships after leading off for the Americans in the 800 freestyle relay. The team set a world record of 6 minutes, 58.55 seconds — one-hundredth of a second faster than its gold medal time at the Olympics.

After the morning prelims, Cavic said he's tired of hearing complaints from the Phelps camp about competing in an inferior suit, even offering to buy him one of the polyurethane models responsible for most of the world records at the Foro Italico.

In the evening semifinals, Cavic nearly became the first swimmer to break 50 seconds, settling for a world record of 50.01 in his speedy Arena X-Glide suit. Phelps was the second-fastest qualifier at 50.48.

"I didn't want to go out so fast, but I had so much energy in my body that I couldn't help it," said Cavic, who broke Phelps' mark of 50.22. "I'm capable of swimming under 50, which would be enough to win the gold."

The two will be side-by-side tonight in the rematch of their thrilling race in China, won by Phelps by the smallest margin possible — a hundredth of a second.

Meanwhile, Aaron Peirsol obliterated the world record in the 200 backstroke and got back at Ryan Lochte, who beat his fellow American in that event at both the 2007 worlds in Melbourne and last summer on the biggest stage of all.

He got out all his frustrations with a dominating performance, breaking his own world record by more than a full second, his time of 1:51.92 wiping out the mark of 1:53.08 he set at the U.S. nationals three weeks ago.

Japan's Ryosuke Irie claimed silver in 1:52.51, also under the old mark. Lochte faded to third.

"I wanted to race and I saw that I pulled out from the beginning and I was feeling all right," Peirsol said. "When I kept pulling away, there was even more of a fire to go a little faster. The world record time is incredible. I have had that sort of time in my mind for a while, and have been waiting to do it for a long time."

WATER POLO

EX-'BOW VAN BELKUM NETS TOP SCORING HONOR

Olympic gold medalist and former Rainbow Wahine All-American Iefke Van Belkum led all scorers — by a bunch — at the 13th FINA World Water Polo Championships, which ended today in Rome.

The U.S. beat Canada, 7-6, in the final match. University of Hawai'i junior Carmen Eggens played for Canada and scored twice in the early round.

Van Belkum scored 25 goals for The Netherlands, which won the gold in Beijing last year, but finished fifth in Rome. No other player had more than 16 goals. Van Belkum added 15 steals.

Kelly Mason, another former UH All-American, had 10 goals for New Zealand, which took 12th. Former Rainbow Anna Sieprath also played for the Kiwis and scored four goals, with six assists.