Ryan Lochte

INDIANAPOLIS -- Michael Phelps on Friday won the race he loves to hate: the brutal, all-four-strokes endurance contest, the 400-meter individual medley at the Grand Prix. Setting a new record for the meet, Phelps powered past Tyler Clary, to finish at 4 minutes 12.51 seconds before an appreciative crowd at the Indiana University Natatorium. The question of the night, though, was whether they had seen the last Phelps 400 IM ever. The Baltimore swimmer has been threatening since the 2008 Olympics that he was done with the event considered the sport's toughest.

Michael Phelps departed the mixed zone, leaving behind four words. "Losses always motivate me," he said. Words rarely uttered by Phelps. Especially in the 200-meter individual medley against his longtime rival Ryan Lochte. Or any other swimmer for that matter. Lochte not only upset Phelps in the 200 IM but did so in a decisive manner, winning in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds at the U.S. national championships Friday night. Phelps was second in 1:55.94 and Tyler Clary third in 1:59.

Monday was a big night for Gregg Troy, swim coach at the University of Florida and the U.S. men's team going to the Olympics. Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay, Conor Dwyer and Elizabeth Beisel all qualified for the Olympics on Monday, the first day of the swimming trials, and all are coached by Troy. "I think it's a true testament to how great of a coach he is," said Beisel, who won the women's 400-meter individual medley. "He truly is the best coach in the world. " Lochte, who won the men's 400 IM and qualified with second-place finisher Michael Phelps, said Troy's tough training has him ready for a big trials, and Olympics.

The tension in the air at Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center during Michael Phelps ' 100-meter butterfly race Friday afternoon was almost as thick as the chlorine smell that filled the pool's lobby. From the moment Phelps hit the water, the nearly 50 members of the Olympic swimmer's North Baltimore pool crowded around a TV screaming "Mi-chael! Mi-chael! Mi-chael!" They issued a collective groan at the halfway turn, when Phelps appeared to be lagging behind. But he pounded through the last 50 meters, and the nervousness at Meadowbrook erupted into euphoria - manifested in an earsplitting scream - as Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, stretched past South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin to claim his 17th gold medal and 21st medal overall.

In Australia this year at the FINA World Championships, swimmer Michael Phelps proved that, when it comes to his best events, he's racing against only himself and history. When he steps away from his strengths, however, there are still swimmers out there who can not only push him, but also defeat him. And Phelps, one of the world's most competitive athletes, does not like to lose. At anything. It can make for riveting racing. Which is one reason the USA Swimming National Championships, an event that begins today in Indianapolis and runs through Saturday, is worth following.

Previewing what he might swim in his final Olympics in London, Michael Phelps has entered seven races in next week's qualifying trials — including the exciting but exhausting 400-meter individual medley. The question of how the Baltimore swimmer would cap off his already golden Olympic career this summer has been the subject of much speculation. His entry list for the swimming trials, which begin in Omaha, Neb., on Monday, at least partially answers that: The 200- and 400-meter individual medleys, the 100- and 200-meter butterflys, the 100- and 200-meter freestyles and the 200-meter backstroke.

Ah, the good old days… Turning our lonely eyes to Aussie legends Thorpey and Klimey and remembering how American Gary Hall Jr. once set off a firestorm when he spoke about smashing the Australians like guitars. You might say with Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim and Hall now retired that the vaunted Aussie-U.S. swim rivalry has landed in the remainder bin. Not exactly. How about relocated? It all has, in a sense, gone more global, a fact expected to be fully on display with competitors from 21 countries on hand at the Pan Pacific Championships.

So what if Katie Hoff found out she was on the World Championship team in the 400-meter freestyle by land, not by water? Hoff, who was raised in Towson, had to watch two agonizing heats of the 400 freestyle Friday night at the Pan Pacific Championships hoping that her time from the recent U.S. nationals would hold up. It did. Barely. Hoff won the 400 free earlier this month in 4 minutes, 5.50 seconds but did not make it out of the morning heats here. Two Americans would have to put down better times to knock her off the World squad, and only the winner, Chloe Sutton did so, going 4:05.

- And now, they're even: Michael Phelps bested Ryan Lochte in a stroke-for-stroke 200-meter freestyle race at the swimming trials here Wednesday night, with the two rivals both qualifying to match up against each other in the London Games next month. After Lochte beat him Monday night, again with both qualifying to pick the race up again in London, Phelps touched the wall first on Wednesday at 1 minute, 45.70 seconds, five-hundreths of a second before Lochte. "Obviously it's been a while, so it felt better, but there's still some things I can improve on," Phelps said.

Dana Vollmer got the first women's race, the 100-meter butterfly, off to a blazing start, setting a U.S. Open and trials record in the preliminaries with a 56.59-second finish. It lasted only until the semi-finals Monday night, when it was broken by a 56.42 finish by … Dana Vollmer . Elizabeth Beisel won the women's 400-meter individual medley with the 10th fastest ever time of 4 minutes 31.78 seconds. Katie Hoff , who formerly trained at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, still holds the world record of 4:31.12, which she set at the 2008 trials.