News Round-Up:

Canada: Michael Phelps (USA) leap back to the helm of the world rankings with a 51.32 victory over 100m butterfly at the Canada Cup on the cusp of final honing for the defence of his butterfly world titles in Shanghai later this month. The time swept Phelps 0.3sec past Benjamin Starke (GER) on the world rankings. "I'm really happy with that and I know I need to do more training," said Phelps. "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." Other winners included Brent Hayden (CAN), on 22.59 in the 50m freestyle, and Katerine Savard (CAN), whose 58.68sec win in the 100m butterfly beat Phelps for the top performance award (illogical in terms of the distance the times are away from world-record pace and in terms of the 2011 world rankings, Phelps No 1, Savard No 22).

Scotland: Richard Shafers broke the Scottish Record for 50m freestyle in 22.63 ahead of 22.99 from Rafael Munoz (ESP) at the Scottish Gas National Open Championships in Glasgow. The meet also witnessed efforts of 2:08.14 by world s/c champion Mireia Belmonte (ESP) in the 200m butterfly; 1:02.59 for Michael Jamieson (GBR) in the 100m breaststroke; a Bulgarian national record of 1:01.46 for Katie Avramova (Ealing) in the 100m backstroke; and 8:04.75 by Lewis Smith (GBR) in the 800m freestyle. The meet came to a close Sunday with Robbie Renwick (GBR) adding the 200m freestyle title to his 400m win with a 1:48.17 effort before final preparations for the world titles in Shanghai later this month, and a 52.84 win for Munoz in the 100m butterfly.

Switzerland: Results of summer nationals in Tenero: Men: 100m freestyle: 1. Erik van Dooren (Genève-Natation) 50.23. 2. Artyom Machekin (Lugano Nuoto) 51.72. 3. Duncan Jacot-Descombes (Red Fish Neuchâtel) 51.84. 1500 m freestyle: 1. Timo Ingold (Burgdorf) 17:08.01. 2. Silvio Federer (Meilen) 17:15.16. 3. Luca Pfyffer (SV Kriens) 17:27.15. 200 m butterfly: 1. Alexandre Liess (Swiss Swimming) 2:01.78. 2. Maximilien Bon (Uster-Wallisellen) 2:03.89. 3. Nico van Duijn (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 2:05.30. 50 m backstroke: 1. Jonathan Massacand (Vevey Natation) 26.68. 2. Adrien Perez (Red Fish Neuchâtel) 27.03. 3. Lukas Räuftlin (SV Kriens) 27.19. 50 m breaststroke: 1. Martin Schweizer (Uster-Wallisellen) 28.59. 2. Yannick Käser (Basel) 29.34. 3. Valerio Romagnoli (Meilen) 30.50. 200 m medley: 1. Räuftlin 2:07.87. 2. Flavio de Corso (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 2:09.92. 3. Kilian Bossard (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 2:11.03. 4x100 m freestyle: 1. Genève-Natation (Febo, Charmey, van Dooren, Intrator) 3:29.42. 2. Lausanne Natation 3:31.58. 3. Uster-Wallisellen 3:32.24. 400 m freestyle: 1. Liess 3:57.51. 2. Jean-Baptiste Febo (Genève-Natation) 4:05.79. 3. Simon Rabold (Uster-Wallisellen) 4:06.21. 50 m butterfly: 1. Christian Schneiter (Bienne), van Duijn, Bon et Perez 25.15. 100 m backstroke: 1. Räuftlin 57.85. 2. Massacand 58.43. 3. Michael Eugene Hallock (Uster-Wallisellen) 58.62. 200 m breaststroke: 1. Käser 2:18.21. 2. Yves Mauron (Bienne) 2:19.68. 3. Bossard 2:21.02. 4x100 m medley: 1. Uster-Wallisellen (Hallock, Bon, Schweizer, Rabold) 3:52.11. 2. Vevey Natation 3:58.30. 3. SV Kriens 4:00.69.

Women: 400 m freestyle: 1. Julia Hassler (Lie/Uster-Wallisellen) 4:19.64. 2. Martina van Berkel (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 4:22.12. 3. Annick van Westendorp (Winterthur) 4:23.44. 1500 m freestyle: 1. Swann Oberson (Swiss Swimming) 16:57.17. 200 m butterfly: 1. van Berkel 2:12.41. 2. Hassler 2:23.68. 3. van Westendorp 2:24.94. 50 m backstroke: 1. Laetitia Perez (Lausanne Natation) 30.32. 2. Florence Sigg (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 30.40. 3. Virginia Schumacher (SV Emmen) 31.22. 50 m breaststroke: 1. Stephanie Spahn (Uster-Wallisellen) 32.61. 2. Corinne Meier (SV Emmen) 32.82. 3. Franziska Hügli (Bienne) 33.17. 200 m medley: 1. Maria Ugolkova (Lausanne Natation) 2:17.58. 2. Marina Ribi (SC Schaffhouse) 2:20.57. 3. Danielle Villars (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 2:22.48. 4x100 m freestyle: 1. Limmat Sharks Zurich (Villars, Oderbolz, Sigg, van Berkel) 3:57.75. 2. Lugano Nuoto 4:03.80. 3. SV Emmen 4:04.22. 100 m freestyle: 1. Ugolkova 57.39. 2. Meier 58.94. 3. van Westerndorp 59.49. 800 m freestyle: 1. Anna Walker (Mendrisio) 9:34.58. 2. Meryl Gigon (Genève-Natation) 9:37.01. 3. Pia Oderbolz (Limmat Sharks Zurich) 9:38.67. 50 m butterfly: 1. Ugolkova 28.00. 2. Perez 28.15. 3. Melanie Schweiger (Baar) 28.34. 100 m backstroke: 1. Sigg 1:05.54. 2. Anouk Hellinga (SV Kriens) 1:06.82. 3. Miriam Rihs (Kreuzlingen) 1:07.33. 200 m breaststroke: 1. Spahn 2:35.47. 2. Ribi 2:35.70. 3. Jennifer Bovay (Bienne) 2:37.84. 4x100 m medley: 1. Uster-Wallisellen (Baric, Hassler, Spahn, Frei) 4:24.65. 2. Lausanne Natation 4:31.46. 3. SV Kriens 4:33.72.

New Zealand: Justin Wright is 17 and has some work to do before he makes it into the world media on the strength of his swimming but he has hit the headlines after winning a landmark legal battle to be a member of his federation and therefore be eligible for selection without his parents: permission. The trouble started when the teenager started a relationship with 24-year-old Rhiannon Jeffrey, who swam the heats of the 4x200m freestyle relay at Athens 2004 and helped the US on its way to the gold medal. The pair are now members of the West Auckland Aquatic Club. Wright's parents, Paul and Sandy, did not condone the relationship, stating that Jeffrey had "stolen from the cradle". In protest, they withdrew their consent for Wright to compete at New Zealand swimming events but the swimmer took the matter to court and the judge judged him to have the right to decide whether he wished to make himself eligible for NZL team selection by being a member of the New Zealand federation without the consent of his parents.