Michael Phelps swims on his way to the 100 meters butterfly gold medal at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai yesterday. [Xinhua]

American superfish Michael Phelps proved he was still the giant in the pool with his third gold medal at the 14th FINA World Championships on Saturday.

The swimming wunderkind claimed the gold in the men's 100m butterfly at 50.71, trailed by Poland's Konrad Czerniak in 51.15. Phelps' compatriot Tyler Mcgil took the bronze in 51.26.

Phelps, who had won 200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle realy in Shanghai, was overtaken by the other swimmers in the first 50m, but he made the audience excited by making a strong dash.

"I am not in the right shape physically. I want to be faster. It's a tough race. Sometimes I need to judge what I can do better. I need definitely to push in the first 50 meters. I will work on my next game. I will watch some races and think about that how I can be faster," said Phelps.

The 14-time Olympic gold medalist was defeated by compatriot Ryan Lochte in the 200m freestyle on Tuesday and 200m individual medley on Thursday. It seems that Ryan was to replace Phelps to dominate the swimming pool. Phelps now proved he was still the superfish.

"It shows that I am in the right direction and making progress. I' m swimming faster now, but I think a lot of things gonna motivate me next year. The 50.71(time) is OK for now, but there's a lot of improvement to make before London Olympics," said Phelps, who collected five golds in the last worlds, only reaped three in Shanghai.

Elsewhere, Cesar Cielo Filho of Brazil graded his second gold medal at swimming worlds, winning the men's 50m freestyle with 21.52. Italian swimmer Luca Dotto trailed in 25.76, while Gideon Bernard of France took the bronze in 25.86.

"It' s been a crazy week, and crazy situations," said Cielo, who had won the men's 50m butterfly on Monday. "I was nervous during the entire week. But I' m satisfied with the way I overcame everything."

The emotional Brazilian cried again for his second gold medal. "Now I feel I' m on top of the world, that's a great feeling."

In the women' s 4X100m medley, China's quartet fromed by Zhao Jing, Ji Liping, Lu Ying and Tang Yi was defeated by the U.S. quartet and took a silver.

The American quartet finished in a time of 3:52.36, more than 3.25 seconds faster than their Chinese counterparts.

"It's close to the world record. I am very pleased." said Coughlin Natlie from the U.S. team.

"It is the first time four of us grouped together. We are the fastest of each event so we were chosen. This group also prepare for the London Olympics," said Zhao Jing, who swam the first leg.

In Saturday' s other actions, Inge Dekker from the Netherlands emerged as the winner in the women's 50m butterfly with 25.71. Melissa Franklin from the United States turned out the victor in the women's 200m backstroke with 2:05.1, winning her second gold medal in swimming worlds. Rebecca Adlington of Britian, who holds the world record of women' s 800m freestyle, kept the title in 8:17.51.