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OMAHA, Nebraska: Michael Phelps set one world record and Aaron Peirsol equalled another on Friday, with Ryan Lochte pushing them all the way in a remarkable runner-up double at the US Olympic swimming trials.
Phelps triumphed in the 200m individual medley, his fourth victory in four starts.
As in the world record-setting 400m medley on the first day, he was challenged by Lochte until the final touch.
Phelps finished in 1min 54.80sec, lowering his own world record of 1:54.98, while Lochte's time of 1:55.22 was the third-fastest time ever in the event.
"I knew whoever was leading going into the last 50 metres would win," Phelps said. "I was hurting the last 50m, I'll tell you that."
Lochte's performance was all the more impressive since it came 20 minutes after he narrowly lost out to Peirsol in the 200m backstroke.
Peirsol won in 1:54.32, equalling the world record that Lochte set in winning the world title last year in Melbourne.
With that swim Lochte had broken Peirsol's five-year hold on the world mark.
Peirsol, who won the 100m backstroke in a world record of 52.89 here on Tuesday, set up a chance at repeating his backstroke double of Athens in Beijing.
Like Phelps, however, he barely held off the hard-charging Lochte, who finished in 1:54.34.
"I have the utmost respect for that guy, especially after tonight," Peirsol said. "Anyone who can stand up and race two races like that ..."
"Yeah, 200 back and 200 IM back-to-back is probably one of my hardest doubles," Lochte said. "After that 200 IM I hit a wall. As soon as I touched it felt like somebody kicked me in the stomach.
"That's what I need to learn how to deal with if I am going to keep swimming the events that I'm scheduled for."
Phelps, no stranger to the pressures of multiple events, was impressed.
"It was probably one of the best doubles I've ever seen," Phelps said of Lochte's effort. "Him putting up the third-fastest time of all time within 20 minutes ... pretty impressive."
Phelps, of course, has plenty of experience in doubling up and he did it again on Friday.
After locking up his fourth Beijing individual event in the medley, he notched the fastest time in the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly of 51.10, with world record-holder Ian Crocker second-quickest in 51.52.
They'll square off in the final on Saturday night as Phelps bids to fill in the last gap in what is planned to be an eight-event Beijing schedule.
Dara Torres, 41, put an unexpected event on her Beijing card with a victory in the women's 100m freestyle.
Torres, who retired for a second time after the Sydney Games, originally came back with modest hopes of swimming a relay on a fifth Olympic team.
Instead she won the 100m free in 53.78, with Natalie Coughlin second in 53.83.
Torres took her victory walk around the pool holding her two-year-old daughter, Tessa, in her arms.
"That really, really hurt," Torres said. "I kept saying 'Where is the wall?'
"I didn't expect this in the 100m," added Torres, who will swim the 50m free over the weekend. "I was expecting third through sixth and a relay."
Another veteran who came in with few expectations was 2004 women's 200m breaststroke gold medallist Amanda Beard, who had spent the last three years focusing much of her attention away from swimming.
But Beard's runner-up finish to Rebecca Soni, who won in 2:22.60, was enough to put her on a fourth Olympic team.
"Not a lot of people expected me to make this team," said Beard, who clocked 2:25.13. "I knew I could make the team, but I knew it was a longshot. I came in here with not a lot of training under my belt, but fortunately it worked out fine."
Another veteran with chance to make a fourth Olympic team, Gary Hall, posted the fourth-fastest time in the men's 50m free semi-finals.
Hall, the two-time defending Olympic champion in the event, trailed world champion Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale.
Elizabeth Beisel, 15, was the top qualifier from the women's 200m backstroke semi-finals, followed by Hayley McGregory and world champion Margaret Hoelzer.
- AFP/jk
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