Japan set the pace in the first action in the pool at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong on Sunday, twice breaking a Games record in the process.

Michael Phelps admitted Saturday he is in poor form after another disappointing performance saw him finish fifth in the men's 200m butterfly final as world records tumbled here at the shortcourse World Cup meet.

U.S. superstar Michael Phelps, shunning the high-tech swimsuit, said he knew landing shortcourse World Cup titles in Stockholm would likely prove beyond him as a result - but still came within an ace of pocketing the 200 meters individual medley on Wednesday.

Sporting a beard and an old-style swimsuit, Michael Phelps finished third in the 100-meter medley at a short-course World Cup after missing out on two other finals on Tuesday.

Brazilian Kaio Almeida broke the 200 meters butterfly short course world record when he clocked one minute, 49.11 seconds at a World Cup meeting on Tuesday.

Marieke Guehrer and Evelyn Verraszto were the stars on a record-breaking opening day of the Moscow leg of FINA's World Cup series here on Friday.

Olympic champion Liu Zige wiped a stunning 1.6 seconds off the world record in the women's 200-meter butterfly at China's National Games on Wednesday.

Japan's swimmers could face lifetime bans if they dye their hair, wear an earring or have brightly decorated fingernails.

Sweden's Therese Alshammar set two new short-course world records on the second final day of the World Cup meet in Durban, South Africa on Saturday.

High-tech polyurethane swimsuits that have fueled a tidal wave of world records will be banned in U.S. racing from October, U.S. Swimming announced Saturday.