South Africa’s men won the 4x100 meters freestyle relay Olympic gold in world record time on a shocking Sunday for the favorites in the Athens pool which saw the end of Michael Phelps’ eight-gold dream.

Mark Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling clocked 3 minutes 13.17 seconds to get the gold and beat the mark of 3:13.67 Australia had swum to win the 2000 gold.

The Dutch relay finished second 3:14.36 minutes. The United States with Phelps, who had won the event at all Olympics until 2000, only got the bronze in 3:14.62. The bronze means that Phelps can now only tie Mark Spitz record seven-gold haul at one Games.

The Aussies did not even make the podium as Ian Thorpe and company had to settle for sixth place far off the pace.

The Americans and Australians were in good company, though, as tiring favorites and world record holders Inge de Bruijn and Brendan Hansen also failed to top the podium in the 100m butterfly and breaststroke, respectively.

Petria Thomas won the women’s 100 meters butterfly in 57.72 seconds the day after helping Australia to the 4x100m freestyle title. Yesterday’s gold was her first individual gold medal after a silver and bronze 2000 in Sydney.

Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland also passed the tiring de Bruijn to grab the silver in 57.84 seconds. The three-time 2000 gold medalist De Bruijn had to settle for bronze in 57.99 seconds.

In the 100m breaststroke, Kosuke Kitajima clocked 1:00.08 minutes to get Japan’s first men’s swimming gold in 16 years since Daiji Suzuki won the 100m backstroke in 1988.

The world record holder Hansen had to settle for silver in 1:00.25 and Hugues Duboscq of France won the bronze in 1:00.88 minutes.

“It feels great, it feels so damn great. Even before starting the race, I knew this was a battle with Hansen. I thought I have to win,” said Kitajima.

Laura Manaudou of France won the other final, the women’s 400m freestyle swimming in a European record 4:05.34 minutes. Jedrzejczak took the silver in 4:05.84 minutes to go with the earlier 100m butterfly bronze.

The bronze went to Kaitlin Sandeno of the United States in 4:06.19 minutes.

Earlier, the 2000 champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands gave Thorpe and Phelps a first taste of defeat when he dominated the semifinals of the hyped 200m freestyle.

Van den Hoogenband posted the fastest semifinal time by winning the first heat in 1:46.00 minutes. Thorpe won the second semi in 1:46.65 ahead of Phelps, who had 1:47.08 minutes.

“I feel extremely well and I am in great shape. I can go a lot faster in the final, where I am side by side with my opponents,” vowed van den Hoogenband.