BEIJING -- American 'super fish' Michael Phelps smashed his own world record of the men's 200-meter freestyle here on Tuesday to increase his gold medal count to three at the Beijing Olympics.

US swimmer Michael Phelps smiles after the men's 200m freestyle swimming final at the National Aquatics Center in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 12, 2008. Phelps broke the world record in the men's 200 metres freestyle with a time of one minute 42.96 seconds at the Beijing Olympics. [Agencies]

Starting off unusually from Lane 6 as the fourth fastest qualifier for the final, the 23-year-old prodigy met no challenge at all to lead the squad of eight in his own pace.

After the first 50 meters, neither South Korean sensation Park Taewan nor American sprinter Peter Vanderkaay could reach Phelps' feet as he touched the wall first in one minute 42.96 seconds, shaving 0.9 second off the previous world record.

Park, who turns 19 next month, finished second with a brand new Asian record of 1:44.85, followed by Peter Vanderkaay in 1:45.14.

Phelps and teammates were on an extreme high after a remarkable win in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay Monday morning where they sensationally pushed themselves forward with veteran Jason Lezak's final stroke while five out of the eight teams surpassed the old world record mark.

But the prolific Phelps kept a cool head to swim his own race on Tuesday.

Phelps defended his title of the men's 400-meter individual medley also with a world record performance on Sunday.