Phelps nips Conger in 100 free at Longhorn Elite
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Phelps competes in the finals of the men’s 100-meter butterfly at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite swimming event, Friday, June 3, 2016, in Austin, Texas.
Michael Phelps edged Jack Conger to win the 100-meter freestyle Friday, but was beaten by Singapore’s Joseph Schooling in the 100 butterfly at the Longhorn Elite Invitational in Austin, Texas.
Phelps finished second to Schooling in the 100 fly, where the 18-time Olympic gold medalist holds the world record. Schooling, a 20-year-old University of Texas swimmer, won in 51.58. Phelps came in at 51.65.
Phelps finished in 49.49 in the 100 freestyle to beat Conger, another Longhorn swimmer, by one-hundredths of a second.
It’s one of three meets around the country for elite swimmers this weekend ahead of the U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of the month.
Arena Pro Swim Series events are were being held in Santa Clara, California, and Indianapolis through Sunday. The trials are June 26-July 3 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Allison Schmitt, who won three gold medals at the London Olympics, beat Missy Franklin in the 100 freestyle. Schmitt swam a 54.30. Franklin, who won four golds in 2012, finished in 54.56.
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Schmitt also was third in the 400 freestyle behind winner Lotte Friis (4:06.82) and Cierra Runge (4:10.36). Schmitt finished in 4:11.63.
In Santa Clara, China’s Sun Yang swam the year’s fastest 200 freestyle time at 1:44.82. Second-place Conor Dwyer turned in the third-fastest time, 1:45.41.
Josh Prenot won the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.15.
“I think I’m in a good spot for the trials,” Prenot said. “The work has been put in, now I just need to sharpen the details and rest up.”
In Indianapolis, Leah Smith had two lifetime bests in the women’s 200 freestyle, and Jay Litherland swept the men’s 200 freestyle and 400 individual medley.
Smith became the eighth-fastest American in the 200 free, touching in 1 minute, 56.64 seconds. She swam a then-lifetime-best 1:56.66 in the morning prelims.
“I’m really happy with my two races today. I was pleasantly surprised with my 200 free this morning and just wanted to get faster tonight — practice going faster in finals,” Smith said. “I’m really happy I was able to get two best times today.”
Litherland won the 200 free in 1:48.41 and took the 400 IM in 4:13.93.
