Short Course World Champs, Day One: Phelps Takes the 200 Free

INDIANAPOLIS, October 7. MAGNIFICENT Michael Phelps kicked off the 7th FINA Short Course World Championships tonight the same way he ended the Athens Olympics six weeks ago: with a gold medal.

Seeded second after this morning's prelims behind Canada's Rick Say, the Baltimore Bullet went out hard, taking the lead at the start and slowly extending it over a game Say on every lap. At the wall, it was Phelps in 1:43.59, followed by Say at 1:44.39 and the USA's Ryan Lochte at 1:44.97.

“I wanted to get out there the first 100,” said Phelps. “I knew Rick was going to go out. I wanted to try to at least stay with him or have a good feeling of the race after the first 100. My goal was 1:44 and I exceeded that, so I’ll take 1:43.

For his part, Say conceded, to race against Michael Phelps, of course I am going to get second. He’s the best in the world.

Former NBA great Larry Bird presented the medals to the winners.

–P. Whitten

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