(Rome, Italy) -- Michael Phelps has suffered his first individual loss in four years.

Phelps was beaten in the final of the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Swim Championships in Rome on Tuesday.

Germany's Paul Beidermann was the victor, setting a new world record in the process.

Beidermann's time of one-minute, 42 seconds was 96-hundredths faster than Phelps' record set at the Beijing Olympics last year.

Phelps' last loss came at the 2005 Worlds, when Ian Crocker bested him in the 100-meter butterfly.

　

　

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