Lochte dazzles in 200 medley

Swimming : US ace clocks second fastest time

With Phelps choosing not to swim the medley this season, Lochte moved quickly to put his stamp on the event, winning both the 200 and 400 IMs to clinch spots at the Rome world championships later this month.

After claiming his fifth world record in the 100M butterfly on Thursday, Phelps nearly saw one of his marks snatched away.

Lochte, a double gold medallist in Beijing, charged out of his team mate's shadow, clocking one minute 54.56 seconds, just 0.33 seconds shy of Phelps' record 1:54.23. He then signalled the mark could be his sooner rather than later.

"I feel I can go at least a second faster, I'm just going to try and put it all together in Rome," Lochte said. "I kind of wish he (Phelps) was doing the race because I love racing him, he's a great guy and I love racing the best."

With Phelps dropping out of the 100M free due to a sore neck and Lochte withdrawing to concentrate on the 200M IM, Nathan Adrian seized his chance, completing the sprint double.
Winner of the 50M free on Thursday, Adrian used a late kick to get home first in the 100M free in 48.00 seconds, just ahead of David Walters on 48.17.

The women's 200M backstroke came down to a battle of teenagers, with 16-year-old Elizabeth Beisel beating 15-year-old Elizabeth Pelton to the wall with a winning time of 2:08.80.

In the evening's only other final, Kathleen Hersey touched first in the 200M butterfly final in 2:06.44.