OMAHA, Neb. — Ryan Lochte still has Michael Phelps' number.
Phelps, though, has put himself in position to go for another gaudy number: eight gold medals at the London Olympics.
Lochte
won his latest showdown with the winningest Olympian ever, beating
Phelps for the first time in the 400-meter individual medley at the U.S.
swimming trials Monday night.
In
taking the first spot on the Olympic team, Lochte extended his
dominance of Phelps that goes back to last year's world championships,
where the 27-year-old Floridian won five gold medals and both
head-to-head races against Phelps.
“The first race is always the hardest,” Lochte said. “I can take a deep breath now, relax and whatever happens, happens.”
Phelps
started strong on the butterfly leg, his best stroke, but Lochte took
command when they switched to the breaststroke. He built a lead of about
a half-body length and held off Phelps in the freestyle finish,
cruising to the wall with one arm extended to post a time of 4 minutes,
7.06 seconds.
He got a
kiss from his dad, Steve, as he came off the deck and a huge cheer from
the crowd of more than 11,000 — including a group behind the starting
block that waved “Ryan” signs and giant cardboard cutouts of his face.
Phelps
claimed the second Olympic spot in 4:07.89, setting himself up for
another eight-event program in London — something he insisted he
wouldn't do again after the Beijing Games.
“I was very pleased with that,” Phelps said. “I said if I went 4:07, I'd be happy.”
Tyler
Clary, who took second at the 2011 worlds, won't even get a chance to
swim the event in London. He faded to third in 4:09.92 and was so upset
he didn't bother stopping by the mixed zone.
Phelps
plans to retire after the Olympics and is clearly eager to end his
career with another dazzling performance. He already has won 14 gold
medals, more than any other athlete.
That
he is even swimming the 400 IM shows Phelps has regained the focus and
dedication that faded away after the 2008 Olympics. At those games, he
won his second straight gold medal in the grueling race, then insisted
he was done with it. Over the past few months, however, he quietly put
the event back in his repertoire — and now he'll be swimming it again in
London.
Going forward at
the trials, Phelps will be heavily favored to claim a spot on the U.S.
Olympic team in four other individual events: the 100 and 200 butterfly,
200 free and 200 individual medley. If he swims on all three American
relays, as expected, that adds up to eight — the number of golds he
captured in 2008 to eclipse Mark Spitz's iconic Olympic record.
“Now
we kind of know where he is and we feel pretty good about it,” Phelps'
coach Bob Bowman said. “This is the catalyst for everything else. When
this goes well, everything else goes well.”
A Beijing repeat? Could be, though it will be much more difficult to win eight events in London.
Lochte is standing in the way this time.
“Obviously, that's some pretty good competition,” Bowman said. “He just kicked our (butt).”
Lochte
is determined to repeat — even exceed — last year's brilliant
performance in Shanghai, where he surpassed Phelps as the world's top
swimmer. He keeps saying “this is my time,” and his first event in Omaha
shows he's still the man to beat.
“I'm definitely ready to tear it up in London,” said Lochte, who is heading to his third Olympics.
This
will be No. 4 for Phelps, who became the first American male swimmer to
qualify for a fourth Olympic team. There's plenty of room for
improvement before he gets to London, according to Bowman.
“His
turns were horrendous,” the coach said. “That's 2 seconds there. His
breaststroke leg has got to be better. There are any number of things he
can work on.”
Plus,
he'll have plenty of motivation to go faster because of the guy he's
chasing. Phelps is surely getting tired of losing to Lochte, who now has
the upper hand in the 400 IM after beating his rival in the 200 IM and
200 free at the 2011 worlds.
Before Monday, Phelps had whipped Lochte nine straight times in the longer medley race going back to 2002.
“We
knew that (losing) was a distinct possibility in this event,” Bowman
said. “I don't think we had any illusions. He knows that he's in the
range. He knows he can get better.”
In
other finals on the opening night of the trials, Peter Vanderkaay
became a three-time Olympian by winning the 400 free, while 19-year-old
Elizabeth Beisel earned her second straight trip to the Olympics in the
400 individual medley.
Vanderkaay
won with a time of 3:47.67, while hard-charging Conor Dwyer settled for
the second spot on the Olympic team in 3:47.83.
“I
just tried to get my head down and get my hand on the touchpad,”
Vanderkaay said. “Both Conor and I were able to do that and punched our
tickets” for London.
Beisel won her event easily in 4:31.74, more than 2 seconds ahead of Caitlin Leverenz.
“This
is definitely a big confidence boost,” the winner said. “Before the
race, I was a mess. I was so nervous. I'm so glad it's over and went
well. No complaints.”
Dana
Vollmer, a 2004 Olympian who failed to qualify for the Olympic team
four years ago, set an American record in the semifinals of the 100
butterfly. The defending world champion put up a blistering time of
56.42 to edge the mark she set a year ago (56.47).
Brendan
Hansen also was impressive in the semifinals. The former world-record
holder broke a minute in the 100 breaststroke, going into Tuesday
night's final as the top qualifier. Eric Shanteau, who competed in
Beijing after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, also advanced.
“I
went out there and hit the first five strokes and I was like, ‘I'm
gone, later,' and just took off,” said Hansen, who quit after Beijing
but returned to the pool looking to make up for disappointments at the
last two Olympics. “You have no idea how hard it is to break a minute.”
Lochte
and Phelps got a bit of a shock during their race when flames leaped up
from the side of the pool — part of the pyrotechnics that organizers
put in place to jazz up the event. They were only supposed to go off
beforehand, but someone set them off inadvertently while the swimmers
were doing the breaststroke.
“I'm like, ‘What's going on?'” Lochte said with a smile.
But he never slowed down.
