More World Records tumbled during the 5th day of the FINA World Championships. Headlined by Ryan Lochte, Christian Sprenger, Annamay Pierse, Jessicah Schipper, Jing Zhao, and the Chinese 800 Free Relay squad.

Libby Trickett won the first women's 100 Free semi with a 52.84 swim. World Record Holder Britta Steffen took second in 52.87, ahead of Fran Halsall's 53.05. In the 2nd semi the Americans went 1-3, with Amanda Weir hitting in 53.02 and Dana Vollmer in 53.55. Ranomi Kromowidjojo split the two with a 53.31 swim.

Ryan Lochte takes the 200 IM gold in World Record form, charging to the wall in 1:54.10. Laszlo Cseh takes the silver in 1:55.24, and other American Eric Shanteau bronze in 1:55.36.

Team USA's Rebecca Soni distanced herself from the field in the final 50m of the 200 Breast with a 2:20.93 swim. Second went to Joline Hostman of Sweden (2:22.24), followed by Nadja Higl's 2:22.28. The top time of semifinal #2 belonged to Annamay Pierse as she blew away the rest of her competitors in breaking the World Record (2:20.12). Mima Jukic (2:22.13) finished 2nd.

The men's 100 Free title was won by Cesar Cielo (22.17) in a hotly contested final. The silver went to France's Alain Bernard 47.12, and the bronze Fred Bousquet (47.25). American Dave Walters finished 5th (47.33), but broke Michael Phelps' American Record in the process.

Australia's Jessicah Schipper shattered yet another World Record as she stopped the clock at 2:03.41 to take the 200 Fly gold. Zige Lio of China claimed the silver in 2:03.90 and Katinka Hosszu takes bronze in (2:04.28). American and now former World Record Holder Mary DeScenza just missed the podium, finishing in 2:04.41.

Aussie swimmers Christian Sprenger (2:07.31) and Brenton Rickard (2:07.89) finished 1-2 in the first 200 Breast semi with Sprenger taking down Kosuke Kitajima's World Record. In the second semi, Eric Shanteau nearly tracked down the World Record that was set in the previous heat, to win in 2:07.42. He did manage to improve the American Record that he set in prelims. Giedrius Titenis touched second in 2:08.35.

China claimed 2 more World Championship medals with the finals of the women's 50 Back. Jing Zhao set a new 50 Back World Record in 27.06, to beat out Daniela Samulski (27.23) and teammate Chang Gao (27.28).

Aaron Peirsol returned to the pool, after not qualifying for the 100 Back final, to contest the 200 Back today. In the 1st semi, Peirsol took care of business to finish first in 1:54.06 with a new meet record. Arkady Vyatchanin touched second in 1:54.90. Ryan Lochte returned to the pool, after his 200 IM win, for the second semi. Lochte finished second in 1:55.39 as Ryosuke Irie qualified first in 1:54.14.

The final event of the day was the women's 800 Free Relay, and the Chinese team locked up another gold medal with a World Record setting effort of 7:42.08, to finish just ahead of Team USA (7:42.56). Great Britain scored the bronze in 7:45.51.

Day 4 of the 13th FINA World Championships got underway with the men's 100 Free semi. Alain Bernard took the first semi in (47.27), ahead of Cesar Cielo's 47.48. The second semi's top finishers were Brent Hayden (47.88) and Dave Walters (47.92) from Team USA. Nathan Adrian did not advance.

Staying with the semifinal theme, the women's 50 Back followed. In the 1st semi, Daniela Samulski hit first in 27.39, breaking yet another World Record. Australia's Sophie Edington (27.51) and Emily Seebohm (27.70) went 2-3. Anastasia Zueva topped Samulski's WR mark with a 27.38 to establish a new one in just minutes later.

Action then shifted to the men's 200 Fly final with Michael Phelps breaking his own World Record with a 1:51.51 effort. The silver went to Pawel Korzeniowski after a 1:53.23 swim, while Takeshi Matsuda locked up the bronze in 1:53.32.

Sticking with the 200m distance, the women took to the blocks for their freestyle final. Reigning World Record Holder Federica Pellegrini pulled away from the field en route to lowering her own WR with a 1:52.98 finish. Both Americans contested this final and scored medals with Allison Schmitt taking silver in 1:54.96 and Dana Vollmer bronze in 1:55.64. Schmitt's time established a new American Record.

World Record Holder Cameron Van Der Burgh lowered his global mark to 26.67 as he wins the 50 Breast. Felipe Silva took the silver in 27.76, while Mark Gangloff grabbed his first medal of these Championships, notching bronze in 26.86.

The women's 200 Fly figures to be a battle between Australia's Jessicah Schipper, who won the 1st semi in 2:04.87. China's 2 swimmers were well under the WR for most of the race, but couldn't hold on, fading down the stretch as Jiao Liuyang finished 2nd in 2:04.96. American and World Record Holder (after morning heats) Mary DeScenza raced in the 2nd semi finishing 2nd in 2:04.33. Katinka Hosszu scored the overall #1 seed thanks to her 2:04.27 race.

Focus shifted to the men's 200 IM semis featuring Team USA's Eric Shanteau and Ryan Lochte. Shanteau finished 2nd in the 1st semi with a 1:57.16, behind Great Britain's James Goddard (1:57.12). In the 2nd semi, Lochte and Laszlo Cseh battled to an ientical 1:55.18 finish.

The men's 800 Free final capped off action the Day 4 action. Swim Star Peter Vanderkaay was the lone American in the final as Zhang Lin blasted his final 50m to secure the gold -- and lower Grant Hackett's World Record -- with a 7:32.12 performance. Mellouli took the silver in 7:35.27. Vanderkaay finished 6th with a career best time of 7:48.44.

The 3rd night of the 13th FINA World Championships started out with a bang as Michael Phelps went head-to-head with Germany's Paul Biedermann in the 200 Free final. The result was a new World Record and gold medal for Biedermann, while Phelps settled for a silver medal for the first time in years. It brought even more attention to the high-tech suit wars that have been going on for quite some time.

But there was more fast swimming ahead! And that continued with the women's 100 Back and Britain's Gemma Spofforth's own World Record performance. She stopped the clock at 58.12 for the new mark, just ahead of Anastasia Zueva's 58.18, while Emily Seebohm took bronze in 58.88. American Hayley McGregory finished 6th overall in 59.42.

Action shifted to semifinal action with the men's 50 Breast as South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh broke the WR with a 26.74 sprint. Other qualifiers for the final include Hendrik Feldwehr (26.83), Felipe Franca Silva (26.92), Brenton Rickard (27.13), and Team USA's Mark Gangloff (27.24).

Italy's Alessia Filippi delighted the home crowd with a 15:44.93 win in the 1500 Free. Lotte Friis (15:46.30) and Camelia Alina Potec () joined Filippi on the podium.

An Aaron Piersol-less field saw the men's 100 Back gold medal go to Japan's Junya Koga with a Championship Record finish of 52.26. Helge Meeuw touched in 52.54 for the silver, followed by Aschwin Wildeboer, who won bronze in 52.64. Swim Star Matt Grevers placed 7th in 53.14.

The women's 200 Free semifinals were headlined by Italy's own Federic Pellegrini and American's Dana Vollmer. Pellegrini shattered her own global standard with a 1:53.67 race, while Vollmer's 1:55.29 registered a new American Record. Britain's Joanne Jackson qualified 3rd overall (1:55.54) and Team USA's Allison Schmitt also advances after posting the 4th fastest time of 1:56.11.

The men's 200 Fly semis were up next, featuring Michael Phelps' return to the pool after his rare loss. He went on to qualify second overall with a 1:53.48, behind Japan's Takeshi Matsuda (1:53.35). Pawel Korzeniowski (1:53.75) and Dinko Jukic (1:54.42) qualified 3-4, respectively, while America's Tyler Clary (1:54.75) grabbed the 8th and final lane in the final.

The final event of the day was the women's 100 Breast final. Team USA showed well, grabbing the gold and bronze medals. Rebecca Soni won her fist World Championship gold, hitting the wall first in 1:04.93. Russia's Yuliya Efimova took the silver in 1:05.41, with youngster Kasey Carlson garnering her first major international medal with a 1:05.75 swim.

The men's 100 Breast led off the Day 2 finals of the 13th FINA World Championship as Australia's Brenton Rickard took the gold in World Record fashion with a swim. The silver went to Hugues Duboscq in 58.64. South Africa's Cameron Van Der Burgh completed the podium with a 58.95 swim. Eric Shanteau, the top seed, just missed a medal, finishing 4th in 58.98.

Up next was the women's 100 Fly. Sara Sjostrom lowered her own World Record from yesterday's semis to win in 56.06. Australia's Jessicah Schipper grabbed silver in 56.23, followed by Jiao Liuyang's bronze medal-winning 56.86. Dan Vollmer finished in a tie for 5th, setting a new American Record with her 56.94 swim.

After helping Team USA win gold in the 400 Free Relay Matt Grevers returned to race his lone inividual event, the 100 Back, along with teammate Aaron Peirsol. In the first semi, Grevers posted a best time of 52.82 to finish 4th. The heat's top time came from Japan's Junya Koga (52.39), just ahead of Germany's Helge Meeuw (52.49). Peirsol touched 6th in 53.22 and shockingly does not advance to finals to defend his final. His time was 9th overall. Read More

The World Championships Day 1 semifinals got underway with the women's 100 Fly. Dana Vollmer won the first semi with a 57.19 effort, just ahead of Jiao Liuyand's 57.25. The top time in the second semi was posted by Sarah Sjostrom who set a new World Record in 56.44 . Australia's Jessicah Schipper's 57.08 was second in the heat and overall as she also advances to the final. Team USA's other swimmer in this event, Christine Magnuson, just missed the cut, finishing 10th overall in 57.59. [FULL RESULTS]

The first final of these Championships is the men's 400 Free featuring Swim Star Peter Vanderkaay, who finishes just off the podium again in 4th place (3:43.20). Another World Record went down as Paul Biedermann's 3:40.07 erased the longest standing men's WR from the books. Ous Mellouli took the bronze with a strong 3:41.11 swim, followed by China's Li Zhang's 3:41.35. [FULL RESULTS]

Up next was the women's 200 IM semis. Julie Hjorth-Hansen 2:09.87. Kirsty Coventry and Evelyn tied for second in the first semi with a 2:09.91 swim. In the second semi, Team USA's Ariana Kukors smashed the World Record with a blistering 2:07.03 performance! Olympic Champion, and now former WR holder Stephanie Rice finished second in 2:08.68. The final looks to be very competitive! Britain's Hannah Miley will also race in the final after a 2:09.46 swim. American Julia Smit, just missed qualifying by one spot. [FULL RESULTS] Read More

The advances in suit manufacturing, from the past year and a half, have torn through swimming's record books. Controversy has reached a fever pitch in recent months and FINA is now responding. The governing body has decided that the latest era of suit technology shall be banned beginning in 2010.

To many, Speedo's LZR Racer opened the floodgates for the current situation, with other companies following suit -- no pun intended -- and developing similar racing suits using polyurethane.

Under the new rules, men will only be permitted to wear suits that go from the waist to the knees; commonly known as "jammers". Women's suits can only go from the shoulders to just above the knees. There will be no more full body suits and they made from "textiles". There is not yet a specific definition for textiles, but one can assume that the word was chosen to communicate that polyurethane will no longer be an acceptable fabric.

A quick look around the internet and it seems most US swimmers and coaches applaud the move, as do the majority of the sport's fans. Not having to inquire as to who was wearing what, after a record is broken, will be a welcome change come 2010.

We're left now to wonder what happens to the records that were established using the high-tech suits. Will there be an asterisk or simply a goal that swimmers will continue to work towards in their daily training. Also, what will become of some of the newer companies that have surfaced? We look to the future for the answers to these questions.

For now, the suits are still legal and the 13th FINA World Championships get underway Sunday from Rome.

Jason Lezak is posting some eye-popping times at the Maccabiah Games in Israel this week. The news started to make the rounds via Twitter Sunday afternoon.

Jason stopped the clock at 47.78 in the 100 Free to set a new meet record.

As for the reason he is competing at these championships instead of Worlds, Jason gives the following response: "I've raced at the World Championships so many times before and I figured that if I am ever compete in the Maccabiah this would be the time. Four years from now is too far away."

Jason also anchored Team USA's 400 Free Relay to a 3:21.17 win.

More information on the 18th Maccabiah Games can be found at www.maccabiah.com.

Swim Stars will be on the scene in Indy for the World Championship Trials. I will mostly be providing coverage via the Swim Stars Twitter account, but I am also working on feeding those tweets into a live blog that will appear on the Swim Stars Live website.

For the absolute latest, check Twitter as I update from the IUPUI Natatorium. Pictures will also be added as the week progresses.

Good luck to all the Swim Stars!

ETA: This post should have gone live on Tuesday morning, but did not due to server error. My apologies!

I'm sure everyone's heard the news that Natalie Coughlin will be headed to a ballroom this fall to compete on the season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Her partner is Alec Mazo, who also attended her alma mater Cal at the same time she did! They've just begun rehearsing with the live premiere beginning Monday, September 21st at 8/7c.

Some of the other stars set to compete include actress Melissa Joan Hart, former NFL star Michael Irvin, R&B singers Macy Gray and Mya, and singer/actor Donny Osmond. Click here for more news on the new cast.

Get ready to vote for Nat and be sure to follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Swimming World Magazine broke the news that Katie Hoff will leave the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and move to the West Coast, to train with new coach Sean Hutchison at FAST Swimming in Fullerton, CA.

FAST was just named a U.S. Olympic Committee Professional and Post Grad Training Center for the west coast of the country, much like SwimMAC, and Katie's former club, NBAC are for the East coast. Hutchison is currently the head coach of King Aquatic Club, and will start his new position coaching elite swimmers next month. He will remain actively involved with KING Aquatics.

Other swimmers expected to move to Fullerton include 2008 Olympians Caroline Burckle and Margaret Hoelzer, as well as 200 IM World Record holder Ariana Kukors.