It’ll be all business on Thursday night.
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He returns for the heats and semi-finals of the 200m individual medley.
In 2004, Phelps helped win gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with a split time of 1 minute, 46.49 seconds, leading to Team USA beating Australia by 0.13 seconds.
And following what has already been a stunning Olympic performance during the 2016 games in Rio, Phelps has etched his name into the record books. They’re the two greatest 200 IM swimmers in history. I guess you would say I’d be like the Michael Phelps of swimming if he wasn’t there. “We’ve literally duked it out back and forth”.
But they both knew when they stepped up to the blocks that only one of them could stand at the top of the podium. Lochte, on the other hand, is the current world record holder in the event. Once again, that “lost” 2012 Olympics (which still turned out pretty good) felled him.
In the relay, the bulk of the drama for Phelps came on the pool deck, where he ripped his swim cap just before it was his turn to swim.
Lochte clocked one minute 57.38 seconds in the afternoon heats, with Philip Heintz of Germany second in 1:57.59 and Phelps third in 1:58.41. Lochte qualified second, precisely half a second slower. Phelps has had to take more of a generalist’s approach to training – but he’s Michael Phelps. Here are some notable events in prime time and how to catch them online.
But from an American perspective, all eyes will be on two of the greatest swimmers to ever wear the red, white and blue.
In the only non-American victory of the night, Rie Kaneto of Japan pulled away from Yulia Efimova to take gold in the women’s 200 breaststroke. While this isn’t the eight-events-for-eight-golds insanity of Beijing, it is an inarguably aggressive program. The 200 IM is Lochte’s only individual event of the Olympics and he has been concentrating on the event for weeks.
The 31-year-old added: “I’ve been able to put my body through things like this over the years and hopefully I can keep it rolling one last time”.
“It’s definitely different”, Lochte said. Neither is likely to approach that number Thursday night. Japan’s Kosuke Hagino actually has this year’s fastest time (1:55.07) and could be a factor, swimming from Lane 6. Phelps and Lochte have done that, and while both are still wonderful competitors, they’re aging.
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“It’ll be a battle”, Phelps said. “This place is going to be loud tomorrow – I’m looking forward to it”.
