Phelps gears up for worlds with double in Montreal
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Shanghai Daily, July 5, 2011
Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly in 51.32 seconds on Sunday to complete a 100-200 double at the Canada Cup in Montreal.
"I'm really happy with that and I know I need to do more training," said Phelps, who turned 26 on Thursday. "It's races like these that I think help me more mentally than anything else. ... Being able to still see that I can pop a good race here and there gives me a little bit of a confidence."
The three-day meet was billed as a tune-up for the world championships starting July 16 at Shanghai and Phelps helped draw 1,800 spectators on Sunday, when he stayed for an hour after his race to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans.
Phelps could swim up to seven events at the world championships, including the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle, the 200 individual medley and three relays.
He won eight medals at each of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics - all but two were gold - and needs only two Olympic medals to equal the record of 18 won over three Games.
Canadian Katerine Savard won three races and set a new Canadian record in the 50-meter freestyle during the meet.
"It gives me a lot of confidence because I think I can lower my times even more," she said.
