SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Michael Phelps turned in his best time in the 200-meter butterfly since the 2012 London Olympics, easily leading the preliminaries at the U.S. national championships in 1 minute, 55.15 seconds.
Phelps looked as though he was barely breathing hard when he climbed from the pool on a sweltering Friday morning in Texas. His time would have been third-fastest of the qualifying heats at the FINA world championships in Kazan, Russia – the measuring stick for Phelps’ performances in San Antonio.
The winningest athlete in Olympic history was barred from worlds as part of his punishment for a second drunken-driving arrest. So he’s treating nationals as his biggest meet of the year, looking to post times that would have been good enough to put him on the top of the podium in Kazan.
His target for the evening finals: Laszlo Cseh’s winning time of 1:53.48 in the 200 fly.