It was sweet revenge for Le Clos, the 200m Olympic champion, who had lost his world crown on the wall over the same distance to Cseh in Wednesday’s final, when he was edged out by just 0.20.
Advertisement
Bowman said Phelps “greatly exceeded” the coach’s expectations in all three races in San Antonio and is “ahead of schedule”.
That he did, setting himself for another massive medal haul at the Rio Olympics next summer.
It also sent an ominous warning to his arch-rival, South African Chad le Clos, who won the world title in the 100m butterfly, but in a slower time of 50.56 seconds.
Phelps put up a stunning time of 1:52.94 in the 200 fly Friday night, the fastest by any swimmer since he set the world record in 2009 in a high-tech bodysuit.
“I guess I was out a little slow”, Phelps said. He went through six weeks of inpatient therapy, which helped him deal with everything from family dynamics (his parents divorced when he was a child, resulting in a strained relationship with his father) to issues with alcohol. I know my facts about the sport of swimming.. “50.45s is not Phelps’ best time”. There are a lot of things I could say but I won’t.
Le Clos, a Manchester United fan, said he had always wanted to swim in a football stadium and his win at the home of Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan was extra special.
Ryan Lochte won world 200m individual medley gold in 1:55.81 on Thursday.
I think a big thing I really have to focus on over the next year is being able to control the physical and emotional energy, Phelps said.
Phelps will surely compete in the same three individual events at Rio that he dominated in San Antonio, and it seems highly likely that hell be on all three U.S. relay teams after a disappointing performance by the Americans in Kazan. Im going to let what I do in the pool do my talking..
Phelps goes off slowly and settles for the second-fastest time at 52.12 seconds.
“I already know what I can change in that race”, Phelps told NBC Sports’ Carolyn Manno poolside at the U.S. Championships in San Antonio after posting a 1:54.75 in an event he won at the last three Olympics (race video here). “You can keep saying anything, I don’t mind it, but you won’t get a rise out of me”. “That’s something I’ve got to fix for tonight”.
His times in a trio of grand prix meets this year had been inconsistent at best.
“I think I’m starting to get the hang of this again”.
With back to back sterling performances in his pet butterfly events, Phelps has shown he is benefiting from the heavy and dedicated training he is doing with longtime coach Bob Bowman.
Advertisement
“You guys aren’t stupid”, Phelps said when asked about the link between worlds and the Olympics.
