BEIJING — Michael Phelps climbed out of the pool, unzipped his skin-tight suit and ambled over to chat with his coach.

"Well, you're tied," Bob Bowman reminded him.

"That's pretty cool," Phelps replied.

Yawn. This guy is making monumental feats look ridiculously easy.

Phelps etched his name with Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis among the winningest Olympians in history with his third gold medal and third world record in as many days.

In winning the 200-meter freestyle today, Phelps ran his career Olympic total to nine golds and avenged his only individual loss in Athens four years ago, when a 19-year-old Phelps took on the 200 free just so he could compete with Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband.

He finished third that night in what was called the "Race of the Century." This time, it was hardly a race at all.

Phelps all the way.

"I hate to lose," he said. "When you lose a race like that, it motivates me even more to try to swim faster."

Competing out in lane six, Phelps quickly surged to the lead and led by a full body length halfway through the second of four laps. He was nearly two seconds ahead of the field when he touched in 1 minute, 42.96 seconds, breaking the mark of 1:43.86 he set at last year's world championships.

"I just wanted to be out at the 50-meter point, and that's where I was," said Phelps, much more reserved in his reaction after a wild performance on deck the previous day. "I was in open water, and it was difficult for the other guys to see me."

South Korea's Park Tae-hwan took the silver in 1:44.85, touching while Phelps was already looking at the scoreboard. Peter Vanderkaay, one of Phelps' training partners, gave the U.S. another medal by claiming the bronze in 1:45.14.

"I knew Park is strong in the last 50 meters," Phelps said of the 400 free gold medalist, "so I knew I had to be fast and concentrated."

Everyone else figured they were racing for second.

"Phelps swam so fast," Park said. "It is my honor to compete with him."

Added Vanderkaay, "I just tried to swim my own race. He's going to go out, but I can't let that affect my race strategy."

Phelps is now 3 for 3 in Beijing, on course to beat Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single Olympics. He opened with a world record in the 400 individual medley, then led off an epic victory in the 400 free relay.

While chasing Spitz, he'll take care of another historical landmark, one he wasn't even aware of until earlier this year.

Phelps's ninth career gold tied him with Spitz, Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the most in Olympic history.

American Aaron Peirsol retained his Olympic title in the 100 backstroke with a world record of 52.54, and teammate Matt Grevers made it a 1-2 U.S. finish. Peirsol beat his own mark, 52.89, set at last month's national trials in Omaha, Neb., while Grevers added to the gold he won for swimming the preliminaries of the 400 free relay.

"It never gets old," said Peirsol.

The bronze was shared by Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin and Australia's Hayden Stoeckle.

Natalie Coughlin became the first woman to repeat as champion of the 100 backstroke, winning with an American record of 58.96. She held off Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe. Another American, Margaret Hoelzer, took bronze in 58.34.

The U.S. dominance was broken only by Australia's Leisel Jones, who won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.17, just eight-hundredths off her own world record. American Rebecca Soni won the silver in 1:06.73. Mirna Jukic of Austria got the bronze (1:07.34).