Technology in focus as Phelps has a party in the pool

BEIJING - With as many as 19 gold medals up for grabs, the 25-year old US swimmer Aaron Peirsol was the first to dash to one at the National Aquatics Center Tuesday morning, clocking in 52.54 seconds in the men’s 100m backstroke, matching his own world record of 52.54 seconds set during the American Olympic trials in July.

Only moments before that Michael Phelps set the swimming pool on fire to grab his third gold in the 200-meter freestyle, clocking another world record and staying on course to his aim of eight golds.

During this Games, and in the events preceding it, there has been such a rush of records that it has raised many an eyebrow. On Tuesday morning here alone, three records were matched while in three days of swimming contests here another eight world records have already been rewritten.