American swimmer Missy Franklin set a short-course world record in the 200m backstroke Saturday, clocking 2 minutes, 0.03 seconds at a World Cup meet in Berlin. The 16-year-old Franklin shaved 0.15 seconds off the old mark set at the same meet by Shiho Sakai of Japan in 2009. The American teenager emerged as one of swimming's new stars by winning three world championship titles in Shanghai this summer, but this is her first world record. Earlier, Michael Phelps won the 100m and 400m Individual Medley finals as the 14-time 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 minutes 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 4min 02.85sec and Yuya Horihata, third at 4 mins 09.05 secs. He then won the 100m IM final in 51.65sec and is set to compete in the 100m butterfly, 200m IM and the 200m backstroke 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.
