Michael Phelps won the 100m and 400m Individual Medley finals here Saturday as the 14-times Olympic champion took the first two of the five events he has entered at the two-day Berlin World Cup short course meet.
The 26-year-old clocked 4 minute 01.49 seconds, the fastest time in the world so far this year, to win the 400m IM final from Japan's Daiya Seto, second at 4 mins 02.85 secs and Yuya Horihata, third at 4 mins 09.05 secs.
"I am happy, that was my first race over the distance for a long time, so that was OK," said the American superstar, who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
He then won the 100m IM final in 51.65 secs and is set to compete in the 100m butterfly, 200m IM and the 200m backstroke here Sunday as part of his preparations for July's London Olympics, with the US trials to be held in June.
Phelps, who also won six golds at the 2004 Olympics, has said he is in his best form since 2008, but he started his season in Moscow earlier this week with a defeat by Germany's Paul Biedermann in the 200m freestyle.
US teenager Melissa Franklin set the short course world record for the 200m backstroke when she swam 2 mins 00.03 secs.
The 16-year-old from Pasadena, California, set the first world record since the ban on high-tech suits and admitted she was delighted by her achievement.
"This is such a good feeling that it gives me so much energy," she said, having won three golds at July's world swimming championships in Shanghai.
The teenager won world golds for the 200m backstroke and was part of the victorious 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley squads for the USA.
Other stars in action in Berlin included short-course world champion Biedermann who dominated the field in the 400m freestyle final with victory in 3 mins 41.19 secs with Britain's Ross Davenport second at 3 mins 44.78 secs.
There was disappointment for double Olympic champion Britta Steffen who finished second in the 50m freestyle finals, three months after she failed to make an impact at the world championships.
Steffen clocked 24.07 secs behind Therese Alshammar of Sweden's winning time of 23.67 secs as the 27-year-old continues to try to recapture the form which saw her win 50m and 100m freestyle gold medals in Beijing.
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