|
In the end he was not even fast enough to make the same
finals as his rival.
The 18-times Olympic gold medalist left the pool frustrated and
under no illusions as to the amount of improvement he needs to
make for the 2016 Rio Games.
Phelps failed to reach the championship ‘A’ final in both the
200 meters individual medley and 100 freestyle races on Sunday
and came away from the meet without a victory.
"It’s just frustrating not setting myself up like I should
have,” Phelps told reporters. “What I want most is to be racing
the competition I need to be racing. I want to race Ryan and
those guys. It’s frustrating falling short.”
Phelps ended a two-year "retirement" at the meet in Charlotte a
year ago, and made a splash by winning the 100 butterfly and
showing promising form.
A year later, the results were quite different.
Phelps had to settle for winning the 200 IM B final on Sunday.
He failed to qualify for the 200 freestyle championship final on
Friday and finished a distant seventh in the 200 butterfly on
Saturday.
Lochte salvaged his own bumpy meet by winning the 200 IM.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
