Soni wins gold, Phelps takes silver

ROME -  Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, NJ) and Kasey Carlson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) led the American effort Tuesday at the 2009 FINA World Championships, winning gold and bronze medals in the women's 100m breaststroke with times of 1:04.93 and 1:05.75, respectively. Sixteen-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps also contributed to Team USA's cause with a silver medal in the men's 200m free, finishing behind Germany's Paul Biedermann with a time of 1:43.22.

The United States' medal tally in pool events after three days now stands at five, including three gold, one silver and a bronze. The U.S. currently leads all countries in gold medals.

Soni entered Tuesday night's finals as the top seed in the race, after setting a world record in the semi-final on Monday with a time of 1:04.83. In the final, she turned in a time of 1:04.93 for the win. Less than one second later, Carlson earned her first World Championship medal, touching in 1:05.75 for bronze. Silver went to Yuliya Efimova of Russia with a time of 1:05.41.

"Standing here as a World Champion is a great feeling," said Soni. "Having Kasey [Carlson] on the podium with me is even better."

In men's 200m free, Phelps was off to a quick start, but trailed Beidermann slightly at each turn. With about 25 meters to go, Beidermann pulled away to earn his second gold medal and world record of the week(1:42.00). Danila Izotov of Russia was third in 1:43.90.

"It's my second-fastest 200 free time ever," said Phelps. "The only time I was faster was in the Olympic finals last year. I've only been back in the water for six months, so all in all, it wasn't a bad swim. Deep down inside, I can't be mad. I can't be disappointed."

Beiderman's world record was one of three  broken Tuesday on the third night of competition. Also setting records were Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth in the finals of the women's 100m back (58.12) and Italy's Federica Pellegrini in the semifinals of the women's 200m free (1:53.67). In addition to the three world records, Team USA's Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) set the American record in the semifinals of the women's 200m free in 1:55.29.

In other finals action, Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas) finished 6^th in the women's 100m back in 59.42, 1.3 seconds behind Spofforth's world record. Russia's Anastasia Zueva, who set the world record in yesterday's semifinals, took silver in 58.18. Emily Seebohm of Australia won bronze in 58.88.

Team USA's Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.) finished eighth in the women's 1500m free with a time of 16:16.10. Italian Alessia Filippi won the gold and set a meet record with a time of 15:44.93, followed by Lotte Friis of Denmark in 15:46.30 and Camelia Potec of Hungary in 15:55.63.

Japan's Junya Koga took gold in the men's 100m backstroke with a meet record time of 52.26, followed by Germany's Helge Meeuv in 52.54 and Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer in 52.64. American Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.)  the 2008 Olympic silver medalist in this event, was seventh in 53.14.

Three semi-final races were also contested tonight, with five Americans advancing. In the men's 50m breaststroke, Mark Gangloff (Akron, Ohio) qualified eighth, turning in a time of 27.24. He will be the only American finalist in this event. Two Americans qualified for the finals of the women's 200m free. Vollmer is the USA's top seed, qualifying second with her American record, while Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.) qualified as the fourth seed in 1:56.11.

Phelps later returned to the pool to cruise to a second-place qualification in the men's 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.48. He will be joined in the final Wednesday by teammate Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), who qualified eighth in 1:54.75.

Action continues Wednesday with finals in the men's 200m fly (Phelps, Clary), 50m breast (Gangloff) and 800m free (Vanderkaay), as well as the women's 200m free (Vollmer, Schmitt).