Michael Phelps may be honing his sprint skills and will doubtless find the cutting edge of speed come the hour but the thing that will continue to set him apart from the rest of any 100m line-up is the fact that he can go a 3:48.05 400m free mid-season.

He did so at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix last night, taking a commanding lead by 200m and hanging on to stay ahead of Olympic 1,500m medallist Ryan Cochrane (CAN), on 3:48.40,  and Robert Hurley (AUS), third in 3:48.49.

Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Lochte (USA) is also busy sharpening his weapons. He took charge of the 200m backstroke, winning in 1:56.83, with Ashley Delaney (AUS) on 1:58.60 ahead of Matt Hawes (CAN), on 2:00.30. Lochte was back in later honing skills geared towards his medley ambitions: he clocked 52.84 in the 100m butterfly to finish second to Masayuki Kishida (JPN), on 52.43, third going to Ricky Berens (USA), on 53.00.

The session witnessed two meet records, one to Nathan Adrian (USA) with a 22.04 win in the 50m free - ahead of US-based George Bovell (TRI) and Brent Hayden (CAN - world 100m free champ, on 22.12 and 22.20 respectively - the other to US-based Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, with a 4:32.15 in the 400m medley, the swim of the day - ahead of Americans Dagny Knutson and Elizabeth Beisel, on 4:36.02 and 4:37.07 respectively. Back in the pack was double Olympic champion Stephanie Rice (AUS), who recently come down from an intensive high-altitude camp.

Coventry later kept all at bay in the 100m backstroke, in 1:00.68, with Mary DeScenza (USA) Katy Murdoch (CAN_ following on with respective efforts of 1:01.54 and 1:02.05.

Leisel Jones (AUS) continued to show why she will be missed in Rome next month, her 1:07.11 win in the 100m breaststroke a class apart from the solid efforts that followed from Kasey Carlson (USA), on 1:08.33, and Sarah Katsoulis (AUS), on 1:08.46.  Dana Vollmer took the 200m free in 1:57.46, the battle for second going to Meagen Nay (AUS) in 1:59.31, 0.49sec up on Ariana Kukors (USA).

In the summer of the 13th FINA world championships, The Suit Remains Significant.