by MIKE VACCARO, New York Post

It already had been an historic (and momentous and significant and otherworldly) Olympics for Michael Phelps. It is now something else, something beyond words, something beyond deeds. In the course of 80 minutes yesterday at the National Aquatics Center, Phelps not only attained history, he transcended it. And he isn't finished yet.

First, he won the 200-meter butterfly, his fourth gold medal (and fourth world record) at these Games, the 10th gold medal of his career, shattering the mark he shared for just over 24 hours with Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz, Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina.

Then -- after a quick stop by the medal stand, where the familiar ditty the "Star Spangled Banner" was played once again -- it was back in the pool for the 4x200 freestyle relay. And for all the shocking (and stunning and striking and dazzling) things Phelps has done already in these Olympics, this might have been the most eye-popping of all.

Batting lead-off, Phelps dived into the pool and didn't emerge to the surface until he already had a quarter-body-length lead on his nearest competitor, Nikita Lobintsev of Russia. And that was as close as the race would get. By the first turn, the world was at Phelps' ankles. By the second, they were a full body length behind him.

And by the time he finished his 200-meter tour of the Water Cube, his nearest pursuer, Patrick Murphy of Australia, was an absurd (silly, illogical, borderline fictitious) 2.64 seconds behind him. He was 2-1/2 seconds clear of the world record split. There were still 600 meters left in the race, and unless the Russians had Aquaman swimming anchor, it already was over.

It was over. Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay all swam well, and they all contributed to the mind-bending time of 6:58.56 that obliterated (destroyed, demolished, eradicated, annihilated) the old record by just under five seconds.

"We talked about breaking seven minutes," Phelps said, "and we did it."

The only way the could have done it better, or faster, is if they had used a boat.

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"It's everything I ever dreamed about," Phelps said when his exhausting workday was done. "On the podium, I kept tearing up. I'm almost at a loss for words. It's the most fun part of being part of a team. It's the best thing having four Americans swim all well together."

For Phelps, it was the signature day so far of an Olympics that have included one escape (in the 4x100 free relay), three individual races in which it seemed he was using faster water than everyone else in the world, and this extraordinary relay in which he not only elevated himself but lifted his teammates clear to the sky, too.

It isn't possible to know just how much pressure Phelps has carried through these games, how difficult it has been to carry on while the world watches him attack (assail, assault, batter) the pool in a way the sport has almost never been before.

Is it a fast pool? It is. Does the technology of swimsuits help? Sure it does.

But you also have to believe what your eyes are telling you every time you see him during a race: Phelps simply exists on a different level than everyone else now, a different plane. Something tells you that he could swim as fast as he needed to if he were wearing an old flannel baseball uniform in the Hackensack River.

"I've still got some left in the tank," he said. "I'd better hope there's some left in the tank. From now on it's just a downward slope. The end is close, and I love it. Not a bad day."

Not bad is one way of putting it. So is great, and terrific, and wonderful, super and marvelous, and fabulous, fantastic and tremendous. By the end of the weekend, the whole thesaurus will belong to Phelps, and why not? He already owns everything else around here.