American swimmer Michael Phelps will resurface on Friday to continue his Beijing gold rush, while three other Olympic champions swim their way to their second gold.

Phelps is poised to take his sixth Olympic gold medal in Beijing as he marches further into the uncharted water as the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Phelps' next golden chance lies in the 200-meter individual medley, in which he holds the world record at one minute and 54.80 seconds.

Phelps has broken the event's world record seven times since 2003, and with his current form, he is not likely to miss the gold, unless his challengers teammate Ryan Lochte and Hungarian swimmer Laszlo Cseh stage something surprising.

Lochte and Cseh have shared the minor medals in Sunday's 400m IM, and they are aiming at a reshuffling in the shorter distance event.

At another front line, Lochte is also battling teammate Aaron Peirsol in the 200m backstroke, in which the two share the world record of 1:54.32.

Lochte's role is still a challenger, as Peirsol is up for a second gold in the stroke to match Japanese Kosuke Kitajima, who got a double-double: two breaststroke titles in two Games.

Peirsol's prospect of winning looked good after he qualified as the fastest in the semis.

In the women's races, two Australians, Leisel Jones and Libby Trickett, are also aiming for their second gold medal in Beijing, both being the events' world record holders and hot favorites.

Jones who has won the 100m breaststroke with a world record of 1:05.17, looks well ahead of her chasers. Jones entered into the final as the second fastest behind American Rebecca Soni. Her world record was set at 2:20.54 in 2006.

Sprinter Trickett is also in top form for her second gold, after snagging the 100m butterfly title on Monday. She set the world record of the 100m free at 52.88 seconds at the Australian Olympic Swimming trials in Sydney in March this year.

But Trickett's gold is a sure bet when a fingertip makes the difference between gold, silver and bronze. She made into the final list as the eighth seed, facing strong challenges from center-lane swimmers American Natalie Coughlin, Dutch Marleen Veldhuis and China's Zhu Yingwen.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)