Ryan Lochte defeats Michael Phelps in 200m swimming medley
Ryan Lochte won a title at the U.S. Swimming Championship here in Irvine, California. He overtook Michael Phelps and won the race in 1 minute and 54.84 seconds. This victory was long anticipated by Lochte.
Lochte has a record of being at his best in the medleys as he even set a world record of 1:54.10 seconds and won the world title in Rome in 2009. Nevertheless, it was the first time that he topped Michael Phelps in any major national or international event. The winner of the 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and six in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Michael Phelps did not participate in the medley last year where Lochte emerged victorious. He was very happy at this achievement of his since he was long waiting to beat Phelps. The record breaking swimmer finished at the second place in 1 minute and 55.94 seconds. After Phelps was leading during the butterfly and backstroke events, Lochte used the breaststroke in such a strong way that he swept past Phelps.
After Lochte was very close to winning in the last turn, Phelps could not manage to overtake him. The Beijing Olympic hero told correspondents that he felt like his body was frozen in the last 75 metres. Phelps is having some issues with the sport after he took some time off from practice. Despite this, he was able to make it to the first position in the 200 metre freestyle and 200 metre butterfly. Lochte, winner of the 400 metre medley admitted that it wasn’t easy to win from Phelps. He attributed his success to his timely strong backstroke. It was commendable that Lochte made it to the first position even though he was suffering from an injury, which was caused during his training session, and had currently come out of the Championship’s nursing. Soon after finishing on the second place behind Nathan Adrian in the 100 metre freestyle, he was bestowed upon this victory over Phelps. Adrian finished the race in 48.41 seconds on Thursday. The 100 metre freestyle event was tied for third at 48.96 seconds by Veteran Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber Gale.
Phelps, the winner of the best 50 titles and the best swimmer of the nation so far, truly appreciated Lochte’s performance in the 200 metre medley that they both contested for. Phelps said that Lochte’s sport was improving with the passage of time and that he had made an impressive and challenging effort to overtake him.
As for Adrian, he was not seen to make a good start, but improved his pace at the turn. He thinks he can reduce his finishing time for the Pan Pacific Championships that are scheduled for 18th of August at the same venue. Adrian said that there is definitely room for him to cut off on the timings. Nevertheless, the swimmer was happy with his finishing time for this particular race. The winners from these events will be selected for the team that will be representing the United States in the 2011 World Championships to be held in Shanghai.
In the women’s 200 metre butterfly, Kathleen Hersey finished in the first place in 2 minutes and 7 seconds. Teresa Crippen grabbed the second place in 2 minutes and 7.89 seconds, while Mary Descenza Mohler came third in 2 minutes and 8.91 seconds. Mohler confessed that she did decide to quit the sport when at the World Championships when after setting a short-lived world record of finishing the 200 metre fly heats in the shortest time, she was kept away from the medals. She is now married to an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and has been living with him in Japan for a year now. She says she loves the sport that she plays and is currently training in Japan.
Elizabeth Biesel was the winner of the 200 metre backstroke, finishing the race in 2 minutes and 8.50 seconds. She was chased by runners-up Melissa Franklin who managed to clinch the second position in a time of 2 minutes and 9.74 seconds.
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