Ryan Lochte earned a rare victory over Michael Phelps in the 200m individual medley at the US National Championships on Friday.
Lochte touched in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds, with Phelps second in 1 minute, 55.94 seconds. Their times were the two fastest in the world this year, while Lochte’s time was the fifth-quickest ever.
“Every time I go on the blocks, I think I can win,” Lochte said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
That mindset hasn’t helped him in the individual medleys against Phelps, who has dominated at 200m and 400m in the Olympics, the World Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Phelps is the two-time defending Olympic champion and owned the world record from June 2003 until last year, when Lochte took it away at the World Championships in Rome.
They are the two fastest swimmers ever in the 200m individual medley. Lochte has shared the podium with Phelps, but he had never made the top spot.
That changed when Phelps took a break after winning a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games. Lochte finally broke through, winning both distances in Rome.
It was Phelps’ first loss this week after winning the 100m and 200m butterfly and the 200m freestyle. Lochte earlier won the 400m individual medley, which Phelps skipped.
Tyler Clary, silver medalist at the World Championships, was third.
Lochte came into this week with a left groin injury that had prevented him from practicing breaststroke for nearly a month. This meet was a major test of his left knee, which was surgically repaired last fall after he tore the meniscus while break dancing.
“I’ve been babying it,” he said of his groin. “I think it’s just rested.”
Reminded of Lochte’s injuries, Phelps said laughingly: “He always says that.”
Phelps led through the first 100m of the butterfly and backstroke, but Lochte pulled even on the breaststroke leg and took the lead at the final turn. He put distance between himself and Phelps over the last 25m of freestyle.
“I hurt, holy crap,” Phelps said.
“I said to Ryan: ‘Dude, with about 20m left you passed me like I was standing still.’ It all goes back to not being in shape. I’m not there yet. I feel like my body shut down,” he said.
Lochte, who had finished second in the 100m freestyle about 40 minutes earlier, knew the race would be decided at the final turn.
“If he’s right with you and he pushes off that wall, he’ll pop up a body length ahead and it’s over,” he said. “That’s where he is so dominant.”
Instead, Phelps was behind with 50m to go.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Phelps said. “Losses always motivate me.”
Nathan Adrian won the 100m freestyle with the second-fastest time in the world.
Adrian touched in 48.41 seconds against a strong field of fellow Olympians. He completed a sweep of the sprints, having won the 50m freestyle a night earlier. Adrian’s time trails only Alain Bernard of France, who has recorded 48.32 seconds.
Lochte took second in 48.83 seconds. His final lap of 25.37 seconds was 0.02 seconds faster than Adrian, who was quickest off the blocks and into the first turn.
They had already earned spots on the US team for both the upcoming Pan Pacific Championships and next year’s World Championships in Shanghai.
Jason Lezak, swimming in front of his hometown fans at age 34, tied with Garrett Weber-Gale for third in 48.96 seconds.
Olympian Cullen Jones failed to make the final, but he won the consolation race in 49.51 seconds.
Olympian Kathleen Hersey won the 200m butterfly in 2 minutes, 7 seconds, second-quickest in the world behind Jiao Liuyang of China. Teresa Crippen was second in 2 minutes, 7.89 seconds.
USA Swimming said Josh Schneider’s protest over the 50m freestyle would not be decided until today. Schneider and Jones tied for second behind Adrian on Thursday, but places two through eight were not declared official.
Schneider was entered in the morning heats of the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle. He failed to show up or scratch out of the fly, which according to the rules meant he was ineligible to swim the rest of the day. However, he swam the 50m under protest.
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