Michael Phelps has always been a little obsessed with numbers, to the point where they sometimes pop up in his dreams. But over the last four years, no number has rattled around inside his head more than 50.40. It represented the world record time in the 100-metre butterfly.

It belonged, though, to American Ian Crocker, who set that mark in 2005 in a race where he beat Phelps by more than a full second. The memory of that race still makes Phelps furious, and Crocker’s record, until Thursday night, remained out of his reach for four long years, almost taunting him.

But with a determined and focused swim inside the Indiana University Natatorium, Phelps finally got it back, touching the wall in a stunning 50.22 seconds. It was the highlight of another exciting night at US nationals.

When Phelps touched the wall, he turn to the scoreboard, whipped off his goggles, yanked off his two swim caps, and shook the water from his face and glared up at his time, almost in anger. It took him a good 15 seconds before he smiled, but the look on his face revealed an unmistakable truth: He expected to grab this record. And now he finally had.

Eye on the prize

“This is something that I really, really wanted to accomplish,” Phelps said. “Crock and I had a lot of great history, a lot of great races with one another. I’ve wanted that record ever since he took it in ‘03 worlds. After the race, you could tell I was pretty fired up and excited.”

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