Sports & Entertainment
Phelps downs Lochte for backstroke win
  • | AFP | May 16, 2011 04:54 PM

US Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps beat Ryan Lochte in the 200m backstroke to leave the Charlotte UltraSwim long course Grand Prix with one victory.

File photo of US Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps, who beat Ryan Lochte in the 200m backstroke to leave the Charlotte UltraSwim long course Grand Prix with one victory.

Phelps, the 14-time Olympic gold medallist, had finished sixth in the 200m free and second in the 200m butterfly this week, but clocked 1min 57.20sec to win the backstroke with Lochte second in 1:58.82.

"I saw a splash out of the corner of my eye and saw the green suit, so I knew it was Ryan," said Phelps. "I ended up with two terrible races and one halfway decent one."

Hungary\'s Katinka Hosszu won the women\'s 200m individual medley in 2:12.29, finishing in front of Sweden\'s Stina Gardell who trains with her with Trojan Aquatics.

"After a week off, we we\'ve working hard, adding more yardage, swimming longer stuff," Hosszu said. " As the World Championships get closer, I wanted to be swimming faster and faster as this meet went on. I felt I was slow on the first day here."

US Olympic veteran Natalie Coughlin won the women\'s 100m free in 54.19sec ahead of Dana Vollmer and 16-year-old Missy Franklin.

Franklin had opened her evening with a victory in the 200m backstroke and finished the meeting with two victories, two second place finishes and a third to stretch her lead in the Grand Prix series.

Olympic relay gold medallist and local product Ricky Berens won the men\'s 100m free in 49.46, with fellow North Carolinian Scot Robison was second in 49.90.

Eric Shanteau won the men\'s 200m individual medley in 1:59.82. Austrian Olympian and Trojan swimmer Markus Rogan was second in 2:00.20, while China?s Wu Peng was third in 2:01.19.

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