Two-time Olympian Michael Phelps was disqualified for the first time in five years on Thursday for a false start at the swimming US Open.
He was disqualified during the start of the 200m backstroke, the first time he had been disqualified from a race since the 2001 World Cup in Baltimore.
"I knew something went wrong, and I heard the crowd when I went in the water," he said of the disqualification, which occurred when he flinched his arm on the starting block at Purdue University's Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Meet record
Despite that Phelps set a meet record in the 200m individual medley with his winning time of 1 minute, 59.26 seconds, along with swimming on Club Wolverine's championship 800 freestyle relay team.
"The biggest thing about today was that I was able to get in the water three times and race hard," said Phelps, who won eight medals, including six gold, at the 2004 Olympic Games.
"Being able to come in here and race was really important," he added.
In the women's 200m individual medley, Katie Hoff of the US took the title with a winning time of 2 minutes, 11.58 seconds.
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