Ryan Lochte

INDIANAPOLIS - A reflective Michael Phelps returned Wednesday to what he called the "birthplace" of his Olympic career, the city where he qualified for his first games and now will compete in five races over the next three days as he prepares for his fourth and final Olympics. "It's kind of crazy," the Baltimore swimmer mused, saying that every meet such as this week's Indianapolis Grand Prix brings back memories of a storied athletic career that he is now trying to bottle as he approaches its end. "All the memories and things that have happened in certain cities - it's kind of weird to think it's all coming to an end," Phelps, 26, said.

With the Shanghai Championships behind him ("Wait for London, Phelps Declares" Aug. 1), Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, have a year to get our Baltimore Olympic star back on top. Mr. Phelps thrives on competition, and a few defeats only inspire him to become faster and stronger. Besides, every time Ryan Lochte handed Mr. Phelps a narrow defeat last week, it was after Mr. Lochte had a day of rest, while Mr. Phelps was competing in race after race as he always does. Until Mr. Lochte competes in as many races as Mr. Phelps, a few wins on his part will never outshine Baltimore's eight gold medal Olympic winner.

This is getting repetitive, in a Michael Phelps sort of way. Ryan Lochte won his third and fourth gold medals at the world swimming championships Friday night, obliterating the field in the final of the 200-meter backstroke before unleashing a jaw-dropping anchor leg to help bail out a U.S. 800 relay team that sat in third place after Phelps' leadoff swim. At the start of this meet, swimming fans wondered whether Lochte could hold his own against Phelps on such a major stage.

For the past eight years, the major competitive storyline at every meaningful swimming championship has arisen from Michael Phelps' international and historic dominance. How many medals will he win? How many records will he break? How dramatically will he increase his own legend? So it's rather strange to watch Phelps, of Fells Point, settling into Shanghai for the 2011 world swimming championships this weekend trailed by more curiosity than awe. At the moment, he doesn't appear to be the best swimmer in his own country, let alone in the world.

It has been quite awhile, arguably more than three years, since Michael Phelps was able to focus solely on the sport of swimming. After winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Phelps not only felt like he'd lose his mind if he continued his laser-like focus on breaking world records, he also felt like it was important for him to promote the sport in ways that extended beyond dominating in the pool. That meant going to events, appearing on television, focusing on endorsements and growing his brand.

USA Swimming Phelps, Lochte headline start of Grand Prix Series The top swimmers in the country, including Michael Phelps (Fells Point) and Ryan Lochte , will be back in the pool Friday through Nov. 14 for the Minnesota Grand Prix, the first stop of the 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. The Grand Prix Series, which awards the top swimmer a $20,000 purse, includes a total of seven stops throughout the country. The Minnesota meet, which will be contested in short course yards, will also feature national teamers Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore)

Michael Phelps withdrew today from the preliminary heats of the 200-meter individual medley at the Pan Pacific Championships here, meaning there would be no rematch against rival Ryan Lochte in the event. "Michael is going to skip the 200 IM this morning so he can concentrate on the [medley] relay tonight," his coach Bob Bowman told reporters in the mixed zone before the heats. "The reason for that [is] it's going to take three really good swims to get through that and that at this point, neither one of us feel like he's got three really good ones.

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.

Satisfaction remained an elusive concept for Michael Phelps . Disappointment? Exhaustion? Yes, those were in reach. But maybe it was a mixture of both after Phelps, who lives in Fells Point, won the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday night at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in 1 minute, 54.11 seconds. This was, after all, a far cry from his most recent experience in the event, a win at the nationals here earlier this month. It was a race he called probably his "worst" 200 fly ever.

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.