Sports

Phelps turns back Lochte in 200 meter individual medley

OMAHA, Neb. — Ultra-hyped marquee showdowns in sports so often fall short of expectations. Saturday night’s main event at the U.S. swimming trials, however, did not disappoint.

Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, the two biggest stars in the sport, produced a scintillating duel in the pool at the CenturyLink Center in the anticipated 200-meter individual medley, with Phelps edging out Lochte for first by nine-hundredths of a second.

If the race were any indication of what’s to come in London, hold on to your bathing caps. This is going to be electric.

When it was over, Phelps, who has outdueled Lochte in two of the three finals they’ve competed against each other, sounded coy but pleased, saying he was “OK with the IM.’’

“It’s nice to be back on that [winning] side, but I’m sure that’s not going to be the end of us going back and forth,’’ Phelps said. “I’m just happy to be able to have a good race like that and pull it all together.’’

Phelps, who on Friday night finished second to Lochte in the semifinal heat, said he went to the videotape to seek out his flaws, saying he “saw some weak points in my race I thought I could fix, and I think I did that tonight.’’

The race was electric from the start, with Phelps taking the lead after the 50 meters of butterfly, his strength, then holding onto it after the backstroke, which is Lochte’s strength.

After holding a slim lead through the breaststroke, the two see-sawed in the freestyle, the final leg of the race. Midway through the final 50, Lochte took the lead before Phelps punched it in for the final few strokes to win.

In fairness, just 28 minutes earlier, Lochte had finished the men’s 200-meter backstroke, which he won.

“I kind of used Ryan having the 200 back before to set the pace early,’’ Phelps said. “I know the 200 back is a very tough race and it takes a lot out of your legs, so I wanted to jump on it the first 100 and see what happened. I think our backstroke, we both kind of let off a little bit. We were probably playing a cat-and-mouse game again. And then, of course, the last 50 we just went crazy.’’

So did the sellout crowd of more than 14,000.

Earlier in the week, Lochte defeated Phelps in the men’s 400-meter IM and Phelps bested Lochte in the 200-meter freestyle. So last night was the rubber match for the two in these trials before they head to London for the real thing.

The two will meet in tonight’s 100-meter butterfly, but because that is Phelps’ strength, it won’t produce the kind of sparks last night did. Lochte essentially will be swimming for second-place and a spot on the Olympic butterfly team.

Lochte, who competed in three events last night and called it “probably the most pain I’ve endured in a swimming competition,’’ conceded the 200 back took a lot out of him before the showdown with Phelps.

“That 200 backstroke is probably one of hardest events out there; it just takes your legs out of you,’’ he said. “And to come back 20 minutes later and go against Michael Phelps … it was definitely hard.’’

Natalie Coughlin, who has 11 Olympic medals and was down to her final chance to make her third Olympics with last night’s women’s 100-meter freestyle (won by Jessica Hardy), finished sixth to qualify for London. The top six in the event made the team. She’ll be a part of the relay team.

“I would love to be on the podium one more time,’’ the 29-year-old Coughlin said. “It would be amazing to get one more medal.’’

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Though Coughlin advanced, some other veteran women swimmers likely saw the end of their Olympic careers come Saturday.

Amanda Beard, 30, failed in her attempt to get to her fifth Olympics when she finished fifth in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke, won by Plainsboro, N.J.’s Rebecca Soni.

And 40-year-old Janet Evans, a three-time Olympian with five medals, finished 53rd in the women’s 800-meter freestyle.

Shortly after the race, Evans said she already signed her “retirement papers,’’ though she paused when she looked at them when she was told to check “temporary’’ or “permanent’’ on the form.

“I paused for like one second and checked ‘permanent,’ ’’ she said. “That was it. Two minutes after I swam. I just don’t feel like my endurance is there. Those girls are fast.’’