ROME -- Michael Phelps will have to share the spotlight at these world championships. Those sleek-but-soon-to-be-obsolete bodysuits are having their last hurrah.

Now that FINA has decided to ban high-tech suits that cover most of the body beginning in 2010, the Foro Italico will likely be remembered as the spot where one last great assault on the record book took place.

Every time figures to be under fire as swimmers wearing rubberized suits that increase buoyancy and improve stamina take aim with added urgency, knowing that whatever comes out of the Eternal City figures to be rather enduring once the guys go back to jammers (suits that only go from the waist to the top of the knee) and the women can't wears suits beyond the shoulders or below the knees.

"That's a little extreme," American sprint specialist Cullen Jones said. "Wow, it's really down to the swimmer now."

Not yet. The new rules governing suits -- which will also require they be made from textile fabrics -- still must be sorted out and won't go into effect until next year. And this is the biggest meet outside the Olympics, with everyone setting up their training to peak over the next eight days.

Phelps shrugged off the all the hype about the current generation of suits, which has been pointed to as major reason more than 100 world records were set last year and nearly 30 have fallen already in 2009, finally prompting the governing body to step in.

"When you're competing at the highest levels, it's because of the work you do in training," Phelps said. "That's how I always looked at it growing up, and that's how I'll continue to do it now. I've worked as hard as I can. I'm where I'm at right now because I put in countless hours, because I put in all that time looking at the black line (on the bottom of the pool) every day, up and down.

"I'm not here to talk about suits. I'm here to compete in the world championships. That's my focus. I've got times I want to achieve over the next week. That's all I'm focused on."

He has cut back on the eight-event program that produced six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, seven wins at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne and a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last summer, breaking Mark Spitz's iconic record.

Phelps won't be swimming either the 200- or the 400-meter individual medley, dropping those grueling races after winning them both in China with world-record times. He'll have three individual events in Rome -- the 200 freestyle, along with the 100 and 200 butterfly -- and be part of all three relay teams as well. But he'll actually have entire day off in the middle of the meet.

First up Sunday: a rematch of that thrilling Olympic showdown with the French in the 400 free relay, a race the Americans pulled out when Jason Lezak overtook Alain Bernard in the final 15 meters to win by 0.08 seconds.