Ryan Lochte Cruises Through 200 IM Prelims with First Seed

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Photo Courtesy: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

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Ryan Lochte of the USA shut it down at the end, but still secured the top seed with his 1:57.38. He was followed by Philip Heintz of Germany, who posted a 1:57.59 for the second seed.

Qualifying third was Michael Phelps, who kept alive his chance of four straight Olympic golds in a single event. He won the final heat in 1:58.41, despite cruising into the finish. He’ll be the third seed for tonight’s semifinals.

Both Phelps and Lochte had busy nights Tuesday, with Phelps capturing gold in the 200 fly and then joining Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Townley Haas on the gold medal-winning 800 free relay for the Americans. And then came the quick turnaround to the morning prelims.

“After last night, only getting four hours of sleep I was a little sluggish getting up and going, but I’m happy I got that race over with,” Lochte said. “Now got to get ready for the semifinals.”

“With a little bit of rest this afternoon, I should be fine,” Phelps said. “Didn’t really hurt that bad.”

Brazil’s Henrique Rodrigues stopped the clock in 1:58.56 for the fourth seed. His teammate Thiago Pereira raced alongside Phelps and will be fifth with a 1:58.63.

Kosuke Hagino of Japan won the 400 IM on the opening night. He swam a controlled 1:58.79 in this morning’s 200 for the sixth spot. His teammate Hiromasa Fujimori was just behind in 1:58.88.

Shun Wang of China went a 1:58.98. Andreas Vazaios of Greece (1:59.33), Simon Sjodin of Sweden (1:59.41), and Dan Wallace of Great Britain (1:59.44) were ninth through 11th this morning.

Portugal’s Alexis Santos , Switzerland’s Jeremny Desplanches, and Spain’s Eduardo Solache Gomez had an impressive three way tie for 12th as they all posted 1:59.67.

Ieuan Lloyd of Great Britain (1:59.74) and Bradlee Ashby of New Zealand (1:59.77) complete tonight’s semifinals.

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