CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP/Getty Images

Aaron Peirsol reacts after failing to make the final of the men's 100 backstroke.

“You guys heard me the first day. I said I wasn’t going to talk about the suit,” Phelps said after his race. “I’m here to swim at the world championships, so keep asking questions about suits and you’re going to get the same exact answer.”

Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman said all the talk about suits could spur his swimmer.

“Michael loves a challenge,” Bowman said.

The record breaking carried on at a staggering pace Monday.

• Brenton Rickard of Australia set a world standard in the very first event, winning the 100 breaststroke in 58.58 to take down Kosuke Kitajima’s mark of 58.91.
• Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom broke the record she set a day earlier in the semifinals of the 100 butterfly at 56.06, shaving nearly four-tenths off the 24-hour-old record.
• Ariana Kukors provided a rare bright spot for the struggling American team in the 200 individual medley, beating Olympic champion Stephanie Rice of Australia in 2:06.15. That was nearly a full second faster than Kukors’ record swim in the semis, and even more amazing when one considers she didn’t even qualify for this event at the U.S. nationals. Kukors got the spot when Elizabeth Pelton dropped out to concentrate on the 100 back, a move that backfired when the teenager didn’t even make the final.
• Rebecca Soni of the U.S. and Russia’s Anastasia Zueva both set world records in the semis. Soni’s time of 1:04.84 in the 100 breaststroke beat Leisel Jones’ three-year-old record of 1:05.09, while Zueva won her heat of the 100 back in 58.48, wiping Kirsty Coventry’s mark of 58.77 off the books.

“This is just ridiculous,” said 42-year-old Dara Torres, who has pretty much seen it all during her career.

Australia’s Dawn Fraser, who won gold medals at three Olympics, said the record times should be “rescinded immediately” because the suits give swimmers extra buoyancy, allowing them to glide along the top of the water.

“The world championships are a laughingstock to the world of swimming,” she said.

The Americans are off to a disappointing start. They’ve won two golds but have no other medals, having already finished fourth — just off the stand — four times through the first eight finals, along with a fifth place.

Eric Shanteau, who put off cancer treatment to compete at the Beijing Olympics, was the latest to miss. He took fourth in the 100 breaststroke, failing to improve on his top qualifying time from the semifinals.

“The men are hurting right now,” Bowman said. “We need to get going. As a team, we’ve had a lot of fourth places that needed to be medals, and that’s not due to the suits. We need to step up. Where we have a chance to win, we need to win.”