Michael Phelps says he needs to train harder after a weekend of mixed results at the Paris Open.
The 14-time Olympic gold medalist won two races in Paris, including Sunday’s 200m medley, but struggled in freestyle events and lost two finals.
“Am I upset? Yes. Very,” Phelps said. “When I’m upset, I think it’s the best time for me to try and use that as a motivation.”
Phelps won the 200 medley in 1 minute, 58.95 seconds ahead of fellow American Patrick Todd, who clocked 2:00.81. Italy’s Federico Turrini finished third in 2:02.31.
Phelps, who was third in the 200 freestyle earlier on Sunday, said training is the key to rediscovering his best form.
“Hopefully it’s a wake-up call. If it’s not then I have to change a lot,” he said. “I blame myself. You’ve got to be responsible for your own action.”
Phelps expected to improve after the Charlotte UltraSwim last month but was disappointed by his times.
“It’s kind of the same times that I went in Charlotte,” he said. “I’m clearly disappointed, but it’s my own fault. I know I didn’t do the training when I needed to do it at the right time.”
In the 200 freestyle, Phelps had a good start but quickly faded away, touching in 1:47.54. France’s Yannick Agnel won with a new national record of 1:46.30, and Sebastiaan Verschuren of the Netherlands finished second in 1:46.97.
Fresh from three weeks of training in Colorado, Phelps also won the 200 butterfly in Paris and came last in the 100 freestyle on Saturday.
“The 200 fly I thought I had done better training [after Charlotte] but clearly I have not,” Phelps said. “I’m the only one who can fix it.”
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