The comeback for the winningest Olympian ever hit a sizable snag on Wednesday. As in a size 7.
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SI.com reported that Phelps, an 18-time Olympic gold medal winner, struggled to a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Nationals in Irvine, Calif. He badly mistimed his turn at the wall for the final 50 meters and finished with a time of 49.17 seconds.
Phelps was three-tenths slower than in his preliminary heat, but would not have won even if he had matched that time of 48.77 seconds. Olympic champion Nathan Adrian captured the race with a time of 48.31 seconds, and that time was .07 off his time in the preliminary heat.
"I barely touched the 50 wall," Phelps lamented after the race. "I thought I had set myself up for a good one. When I took a few more strokes and I was barely past the flags, I knew there was very little chance I was going to chase anybody down."
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Even Phelps' coach, the usually positive Bob Bowman, had little sympathy for his swimmer.
"It's dumb," Bowman said of the bad turn, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. "Take a year off, swim just two 100s (before this) ... it's a tall order."
The 100 freestyle isn't Phelps' specialty, but he has been fast enough to earn spots on the U.S. Olympic relay teams, the Tribune added.
Rival Ryan Lochte finished second in the race with a time of 48.96 seconds.
Despite Phelps' subpar performance, his peers told the Times they have little doubt that his mere presence makes him a threat in every race he enters.
"No matter what event it is, he is going to bring his A game and be prepared," said Chase Kalisz, the reigning NCAA 400 IM champion for Georgia who trains with Phelps at North Baltimore Aquatic Club during the summer. "He knows how to get the best out of himself with whatever training he has done."
The scrutiny of failing to win, however, is an issue that is unusual for Phelps as he tries to work his way back to his 2008 and 2012 Olympic form. Each defeat is magnified, and a seventh-place finish is unheard of.
Whether the increased role under the microscope has any effect remains to be seen.
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