Omaha (Nebraska): Michael Phelps lowered his own 200m medley world record on Friday at the US Olympic swimming trials as he lined up a fourth individual event at the Beijing Games.
The US swimmer clocks 1min 54.80sec, improving on the 1:54.98 he set last year
Omaha (Nebraska): Michael Phelps lowered his own 200m medley world record on Friday at the US Olympic swimming trials as he lined up a fourth individual event at the Beijing Games. Phelps clocked 1min 54.80sec, improving on the 1:54.98 that he set in winning the world title in Melbourne on March 29, 2007. Ryan Lochte was second in 1:55.22, the third-fastest ever, and third-place finisher Eric Shanteau was more than three seconds adrift in 1:58.55.
Lochte’s performance even more impressive considering it came after his runner-up finish to Aaron Peirsol in the 200m backstroke less than half-an-hour earlier. In that race, Peirsol matched Lochte’s world record and won by just two hundredths of a second. Lochte was also runner-up to Phelps on Sunday, when the US superstar launched his Beijing qualifying bid with a world-record victory in the 400m individual medley. Lochte notched the second-fastest time in history as he challenged Phelps until the end. “I think both of us hate to lose,” Phelps said, when asked why Lochte seemed to bring out the best in him.
“Ryan had an article not too far back saying that when some people get in a race with myself and Aaron, they are racing to get second, and he is not.
“I think that fired me up a little bit. “Getting in the water with him, the last three or four races it has pretty much taken a world record to beat him.”
Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman said he was delighted to see the 23-year-old swimmer pushed to his limit. “I like to see him race like he did tonight,” Bowman said. “It is really what it is all about. I think that is the fun part for him ... I like to see it. I like to see him challenged because that really brings out his best.”
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