Washington: Ryan Lochte edged out Michael Phelps in the men’s 400m individual medley at the US Olympic swimming trials.
Lochte took the lead on the breaststroke leg of the four-stroke event and held off Phelps in the closing freestyle to win in four minutes 7.06 seconds Monday, reported Xinhua.Phelps was second in 4:07.89, securing an Olympic berth. Tyler Clary, runner-up of the event at Shanghai worlds last year behind Lochte, was the odd man out, finishing third in 4:09.92. Only the top two finishes in each event in the eight-day meet make the Olympic team.After making the 400m medley one of his eight triumphs in Beijing, Phelps had vowed he wouldn’t swim it again in major international competition.”There was a lot of discussion about me doing it,” Phelps said. “The thing it came down to – I wanted to do it. This is an event I’ve done for a long time and I want to finish off my career doing it.”
IANS