CLOVIS, Calif. - Michael Phelps, the 16-year-old Towson High School junior, was taken to school last night by the big boys in the 200-meter freestyle at the USA National Swimming Championships in this sweltering central California town.
Phelps, who swims for North Baltimore Aquatic Club, clocked 1 minute, 51.73 seconds, beating his career-best time in the event by several seconds. It earned him sixth place.
He was more than four seconds behind U.S. Olympic team captain Josh Davis, 28, who set a U.S. open mark of 1:47.13. On Wednesday night, Phelps had finished second to Davis in the 200 backstroke.
The 200 free is an "off-event" for Phelps, the youngest American male swimmer ever to set a world swimming record. At the Spring Nationals in March, when he was still 15, Phelps clocked 1:54.92 in the 200 butterfly, leaving world record-holder and Olympic champion Tom Malchow in his wake. No other man had ever broken 1:55 in the event.
Phelps then lowered his own mark to 1:54.58 in winning gold at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last month. Last year, the teen became the youngest American male Olympian since 1932 but was disappointed with his fifth-place finish in Sydney.
Yesterday, Phelps qualified eighth in the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle, squeaking into the finals. Swimming in Lane 8 in the finals, he trailed from the start, making each turn in eighth place. In the final lap, he uncorked his finishing kick to finish sixth.
"I'm happy with my performance," said Phelps, who is using this meet as an opportunity to experiment with events he does not usually swim in major competitions. "Any time you do your best, you've got to be pleased."
Phelps' long-term goal is to make the 2004 Olympic team in several events."I don't want to be just a one-event athlete in Athens," he said. "I'd like to make the team and have a chance to medal in both the 100 and 200 fly - and the 200 and 400 [individual medley], at least."
Today, Phelps is entered in the 100 butterfly. He's looking forward to seeing "how much speed I have" in the shorter butterfly sprint.
