Chad Le Clos, 20, from South Africa, upset Phelps in the 200-meter butterfly, placed second in the 100 fly and added fifth- and seventh-place relay finishes.
In the women's 200 freestyle, Susie O'Neill, the world record-holder for the 200 butterfly, placed fourth behind her fellow Australians Elka Graham and Giaan Rooney, with the South African Helene Muller placing third.
The 20-year-old won silver at the World Championships in Shanghai last year and her form as well as her mature, quiet confidence, had given rise to optimism she may become the first British woman to claim an Olympic butterfly podium place.
It helps that all three acts of Madam Butterfly take place in the same location – the house Lieutenant Pinkerton rents for his Japanese bride in a marriage that is, for him, purely temporary – but, from all perspectives, Puccini's Japanese tragedy of cultural and sexual imperialism hits home hard.
Jeremy Knowles' participation in the 200 meters butterfly took place during the 11 August preliminary round.
The bride turned sugar cookies shaped like butterflies into place cards.
The macro shots depicting the beauty of insects, beetles and butterflies took place at the Haslemere Museum, which has over 65,000 insects in their collection.
They realised they could only establish the butterfly by placing the caterpillars in new sites at the exact moment they dropped off the thyme in search of ants.
The wings are folded together and the butterfly is placed in an envelope, which goes into the cardboard box for transport.
Rooney and Robin van Persie led a group of players at Chester Races yesterday where they saw Ferguson's horse Butterfly McQueen placed second in the 3.50pm and collect winnings of £2,310.
