And for one last time, at least, all eyes will be on these two, in the same pool, in the same race – ageless.
Advertisement
“It’s kind of insane how our races turn out”, Phelps said.
Phelps first arrived on the Olympic scene when he was just 15. That should entitle Lochte to hate him the way Ahab hated the white whale.
The 31-year-old still boasts an uncanny ability to get his hand to the final wall first – coming from behind in lane seven to edge Tom Shields in the 100m fly in Omaha and once again holding off old foe Ryan Lochte to win the 200m medley. It was something more noble, more profound and more personal. “It was something that I’m definitely going to cherish for the rest of my life”.
Yet fans who tune into swimming just for the Olympics might not realize that the gap has closed. The stakes supreme. The outcomes memorable.
But other countries have improved since four years ago in London and Phelps knows hes got to be much better by the time the Rio Games begin. Phelps, 31, was pleased with his wins here but insists he’ll have to be faster to add to his record 22 Olympic medals.
Natalie Coughlin didn’t come close to making the team at age 33, though the 12-time Olympic medalist said she’s not retiring.
“I did what I needed to do here, and it set me up to do what I want to do in Rio”, Ledecky said. “Anybody else’s expectations don’t mean that much to me”.
That is the reality, and while the USA coaching staff, led by Bowman and women’s coach David Marsh, is confident in their ability to induce better performances from an unusually raw team – 30 of the 45 members will compete at their first Olympics – there is simultaneously some befuddlement about why the times weren’t faster here. Even in their swimming dotage.
If there is a better pressure performer in the pool, on the court, on the field, at the rink, at the arena…heck, on the planet, than Michael Phelps, then tell him or her to stand up and be counted.
Even Lochte didn’t seem to mind that he lost to the greatest swimmer in history. There is a symbiotic relationship to their rivalry. Phelps and Shields were the only ones to break 27 seconds in the second half – Shields at 26.90 and Phelps in 26.94.
For Phelps, this victory was part of a challenging day. Outside of a gutsy runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle, she finished seventh in the 100 backstroke – a race she won in 2012 – and that knocks her out of consideration for the 4×100 medley relay.
Some potential teen stars such as 16-year-old Cassidy Bayer and 17-year-old Michael Andrew swam well, but none broke through. You know you don’t have a chance. “We race each other to the last stroke”.
“Yeah, that hurt”, Phelps said.
“I came into these trials wanting to make my fifth Olympic team, and I did that”, said Phelps, who will be the first United States man to swim in five Olympics. With the crowd of 14,000 in full throat at CenturyLink, he flipped for his final turn-in fourth place. He finished behind California Aquatics teammates Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley, who earned the two spots for Rio.
“I was determined and fired up today, and this is the best that I’ve felt so far this meet”. “I think we’re going to have to navigate how we present this to people”. “No offense, it’s just what I want to do”. “Why I had to miscount in the most important race of my life (at the time) is a mystery”.
Advertisement
Already the top-ranked American in the event, the 28-year-old sprinter from Avon, Connecticut, swam 24.52 seconds in the preliminaries Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska. Phelps said. “That’s new”.
