ATHENS, 20 August 2004 — American superstar Michael Phelps rolled to a fourth Olympic swimming gold yesterday but teammate Aaron Peirsol’s ride to a second backstroke gold was more of a rollercoaster.

Phelps stormed to the fifth-fastest time in history to win the 200m individual medley in an Olympic record of 1min 57.14sec, adding the crown to his titles in the 400m medley, 200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay.

No sooner did Phelps have the medley medal around his neck than he was due back on the blocks for the semifinals of the 100m butterfly, in which he topped the times in another Olympic record of 51.61sec.

“It’s fantastic to see him come back and accomplish that in the fly,” said Phelps’s coach Bob Bowman. “He just handles himself so well, that he’s able to get over the highs of winning a gold medal, to enjoy it and still come back and race.”

Peirsol claimed the 200m backstroke gold, but not before a sensational disqualification and reinstatement for the world record-holder, who had touched the wall 2.40sec in front of his nearest rival.

Two more world record-holders emerged with victories on the sixth night of swimming competition as American Amanda Beard claimed the 200m breaststroke gold and Australian Jodie Henry dethroned Sydney champion Inge de Bruijn in the women’s 100m freestyle.

But it was Peirsol’s off then on-again gold that got the crowd going at the Olympics aquatic center. The 21-year-old American touched the wall in 1:54.95, 2.40sec in front of Markus Rogan of Austria, but was disqualified for an illegal turn at the 150m mark.

But the decision was then overturned — US coach Dave Salo said the technical committee had made that decision even before the US appeal — and Peirsol added the 200m backstroke gold to the 100m back title he won on Monday.

“It was a rollercoaster,” Peirsol said. “The guys, Markus, and the others were pretty good about it. They were bumped up a medal and then went down. I’m sad for those who thought they were on the podium and were then thrown out of it after my race was made valid.”

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) issued a statement to clarify why the decision was overturned. “The disqualification of the swimmer in lane four (Aaron Peirsol, USA), was not accepted due to the detail of the reason, supplied by the official, being inadequate and not in the working language of FINA,” said the statement.

Rogan took his demotion back to silver philosophically. “For a moment I thought about gold, and the idea was just beautiful. But after all it’s fair like this,” said the Austrian, who also finished second to Peirsol in the 100m backstroke. “Aaron is a very honest person. I am sure he swam fairly and it is just the way it should be.”

“I believe politics are everywhere,” said Rogan, also runner-up to Peirsol in the 100 backstroke in Athens. “I believe there might have been something about Aaron being very outspoken about his friend Brendan (Hansen).”

Peirsol had accused Kosuke Kitajima of using an illegal dolphin kick during the Japanese swimmer’s victory over Hansen in the men’s 100 breaststroke final at the weekend.

“I don’t want to pass judgment on the referees but I believe (the disqualification) was overruled because there wasn’t enough evidence,” said Rogan. “People should do their jobs properly.”

“I didn’t really reach my heart that I was Olympic champion. He is a better backstroker than me. At the end of the day it was a fair result.” Romania’s Razvan Florea took the bronze in 1:57.56. Peirsol’s reinstatement left Britain’s James Goddard out in the cold. After briefly tasting bronze, he was relegated to fourth in 1:57.76.

All the drama on the women’s side was in the water. Beard, who made her Olympic debut at 14 in 1996, clocked an Olympic record of 2:23.37 to win the 200m breaststroke ahead of Australian rival Leisel Jones.

“In ‘96 I got the silver, 2000 I got the bronze. Now I have the gold, so I have the full set,” Beard said. Beard had set the world record at the US Olympic trials in July, three days after Jones broke the previous record shared by Beard and Qi Hui.

Jones led at every turn, but couldn’t hold off the surging American in the closing meters, taking silver in 2:23.60. Germany’s Anne Poleska was third in 2:25.82.

“I don’t know exactly how I did it,” Beard said. “I can’t go out fast like the other girls, but if I let them get too far ahead, it’s a gone race.”

Henry, 20, backed up her record-breaking semifinal swim with a golden performance against de Bruijn, winning in 53.84sec to double her gold medal haul in Athens after helping Australia to a world record-setting triumph in the 4x100m free relay.

“It’s indescribable,” said a beaming Henry, who set the world record of 53.52sec on Wednesday night. “My main event is the 4x100, and to do well in this is a bonus.”

De Bruijn, whose three gold medals in Sydney four years ago included the 100m free, settled for silver this time in 54.16sec, to go with bronze in the 100m fly and 4x100m free relay.

Henry said the veteran swimmer tried a bit of gamesmanship right before the race.

“I think she was trying to psyche me out,” Henry said. “She was facing me and staring at me, and I thought ‘This is sad.’ I started laughing. I just waved at everyone and that was that.”