Michael Phelps lost for the third straight time in one of his signature events, finishing one-hundredth of a second behind Australia’s Nick D’Arcy in the 200m butterfly on Sunday at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix.
The 14-time Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in the event was hardly at his dominating best, getting chased down in the final 25m by D’Arcy, who touched the wall in one minute, 55.39 seconds.
Phelps took comfort in the close finish and believes he’s on pace to be at full-strength for the world championships next month in Shanghai. Still, Phelps hadn’t lost the 200m fly in almost nine years and now has dropped three in a row.
Photo: AFP
The two other losses came to China’s Wu Peng.
Even in tune-up races, losing streaks are rare for the planet’s most recognized swimmer.
D’Arcy was second to Phelps at last year’s Pan Pacific Championships, but stopped short of saying he is gaining ground on Phelps.
“It’s always great to beat somebody who’s possibly the greatest athlete who ever lived,” said D’Arcy, who didn’t qualify for the worlds because he was recovering from left ankle surgery at the time. “Any chance you get to beat him, you’ve got to take it. I don’t care that it was one-tenth of a second.”
Phelps chalks up the losses to part of the training process.
He spent most of the last month in high altitude in Colorado Springs, exhaustingly increasing his workouts. He also will compete in the 100m fly and 200m free in Montreal in two weeks to make some last-ditch adjustments.
One thing is for sure: Phelps will have to be better when the world championships begin on July 16 in Shanghai if he wants gold.
“Before I went to Colorado, I think I was in nowhereland,” Phelps said, chuckling. “And I feel like I’m kind of somewhere now. I’m in somewhereland hoping to move toward, well, I don’t know what comes after that. Hopefully somewhere in the right direction.”
Phelps has certainly improved since earlier this year.
He finished fourth in the 200m fly in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before moving into second behind Wu in Charlotte. His preliminary time on Sunday morning also was almost six seconds slower than the final and he credits his training for the improvement.
Among the other notables on Sunday: Daniel Bell held off Ryan Lochte to win the 100m backstroke; Lochte also was second in the 200m individual medley to Thiago Pereira; Eric Shanteau took the 100m breaststroke and Ricardo Monasterio won the 1,500m freestyle.
On the women’s side, Kathleen Hersey won the 200m fly; Jessica Hardy was first in the 100m breaststroke; Emily Seebohm overcame a bout of food poisoning and was victorious in the 100m backstroke; Ariana Kukors won the 200m individual medley from Olympic champion Stephanie Rice and Wendy Trott was first in the 800m free.
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