Michael Phelps held up one finger, leaving no doubt he’s No. 1. Then he pounded the water defiantly — first with one hand, then with both.
Removing any uncertainty about how ready he’ll be for the Rio Olympics, Phelps turned in his fastest time in the 200-meter butterfly since setting the world record in a high-tech suit six years ago.
Phelps’ stunner — 1 minute, 52.94 seconds at the U.S. national championships Friday night — came after months of lackluster performances and serious problems away from the pool.
“This next year is going to be pretty damn fun,” said Phelps, who unleashed one of the biggest celebrations of his career when he saw the time.
It would have been good enough for gold at the 2012 london Olympics, where he finished second behind Chad le Clos’ time of 1:52.96. It would have been good enough to win at this year’s world championships in Kazan, Russia, where Hungary’s laszlo Cseh took the title in 1:53.48.
Not after a performance that no one saw coming — not even his coach, Bob Bowman.
Phelps should have been in Kazan this week — he easily qualified for the U.S. team - but he lost his spot as part of his punishment for a second drunken-driving arrest last fall. So he came to San Antonio for what is essentially a junior-varsity meet for swimmers who didn’t earn a spot at the biggest swimming event outside the Olympics.
With the stands nearly full — despite another 100-degree day in south Texas — and fans packed around the railings at one end of the pool, Phelps seized the moment. He went out in 25.14 seconds, significantly faster than his opening pace in the morning preliminaries, and was clearly racing more than just the seven other swimmers in the “A’’ final.
He kept up the blistering pace right to the end, breaking 30 seconds on his final lap and touching the wall a full body-length ahead of runner-up Jack Conger (1:54.54).
“I had no clue,” Phelps said. “Going into the 100 wall, I said, ‘Please just make it feel this easy for one more 25.’ Then I would just go to my legs as much as I can the last 75. When I hit 150 wall, I was like, ‘I better get at least seven or eight kicks off this wall and just hammer it.’”
next up 100 fly prelim
Coming off one of the best races of his career, Michael Phelps was a bit sluggish in morning preliminaries for the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. national championships on Saturday. He planned to go a lot faster in the evening — and he’s got a time to beat.
Shortly after Phelps posted the second-fastest time in San Antonio, South African rival Chad le Clos won the world championship in the 100 fly with a blistering pace of 50.56 seconds in Kazan, Russia.
A half a world away, Phelps wasn’t anywhere close to that performance, touching in 52.12. Jack Conger was the top qualifier for the evening final in 51.97.
“I was a little slow getting up this morning. I hurt a little bit,” Phelps said, describing his race as “blah.” “Nothing really exciting about it,” he added.
ledecky wins 5th gold Kazan (Russia): There’s no stopping Katie ledecky. The speedy teenager virtually raced herself at the world swimming championships, and she was unbeatable. The 18-year-old ended her meet in spectacular style on Saturday night, lowering her own world record by 3.61 seconds in the 800-meter freestyle for her fifth gold medal.
She swam the 16-lap race in 8 minutes, 7.39 seconds, bettering her time of 8:11.00 set last year. She completed a sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Kazan.