U.S. flexes swimming muscles at Pan-Pacs

IRVINE, Calif. -- Twenty-seven gold medals.

Seventeen silver and seven bronze medals.

The United States won 51 pieces of shiny hardware at the 2010 Pan-Pacific Championships, a meet that pits the Americans against Australia, Japan and other Pacific-Rim nations.

Australia finished with 26 medals (four gold), and Japan tallied 11.

What the Americans did was completely dismantle their competition here in Irvine this week. They did it with the help of veterans (Ryan Lochte, Rebecca Soni), new blood (Chloe Sutton, Tyler Clary) and a certain swimmer from Baltimore who, despite spending too much time on the golf course recently and not enough in the water, managed to win two individual races.

Of course we're referring to Michael Phelps, who addressed the media after he helped the medley relay team win gold Saturday night. The 14-time Olympic gold medalist said it felt good to end the meet with the relay victory, and now he's going to take a short break from swimming to play some golf -- a week or two at most.

"I think I can say that this [will be] my last break until after [the 2012 Olympics in] London," Phelps said. "There's a lot of work to be done. I think there is a little bit more of a clearer image in what exactly needs to be done for World Championships next year for me. I know exactly what I need to do."

Phelps' coach Bob Bowman said he's happy with how the U.S. team performed at Pan-Pacs and also the U.S. Championships earlier this month.

They even showed a pool full of national pride Saturday night.

"Tonight the kids couldn't warm up because they stopped every time the National Anthem was on, which was great," Bowman said. "I think we have a good picture of where the team is now, and it's pretty good. We know what we need to improve for next year; we certainly need to improve for London. It gives us a good start."

Other multiple U.S. winners this week included Lochte (six gold), Jessica Hardy (four) and Rebecca Soni (three). Heading into Sunday's 10k open-water event, the U.S. has amassed 489.50 points in the meet standings -- well ahead of Australia (311.50), Japan (234) and Canada (177).