Today at a since the 2012 Olympics in London. The goal was to 鈥渢est the waters a little bit and see how it goes,鈥 .
The results are in, and it went swimmingly.
The 22-time Olympic medalist beat rival Ryan Lochte by a tenth of a second in the preliminary round of the 100-meter butterfly. Phelps鈥 52.84 seeded him first going into the finals heat, but Lochte bested Phelps for the win with a 51.93, followed by Phelps’ second-place 52.13.
Phelps was expected to race the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly events, , without further explanation.
When pressed about the motivation for his return, Phelps said, 鈥淚鈥檓 doing this because I want to. I want to be back in the water鈥鈥檓 having fun.鈥 He also credited a love of competition, and a desire to get back into pro form.
鈥淲hen he first came back, he was so out of shape,鈥 Bowman said to laughter from the press-conference crowd. 鈥淪o it took a while to say, 鈥極K, he can do this in public for somebody.鈥欌
Phelps said he spent his time off traveling, golfing, and putting on more than 30 pounds; he peaked at 225 after racing in London at 187. Now at 194 with a podium finish under his suit, it seems Phelps is back,
But Phelps hasn鈥檛 announced that he鈥檚 aiming for the 2016 Olympics. Even if he did, he won鈥檛 get an automatic in. 鈥淪hould Phelps鈥 comeback journey lead to the Olympic Trials, he鈥檒l have to re-qualify for the Olympics,鈥 . 鈥淭here are fast swimmers on the circuit right now. They鈥檒l be faster in 2016. Phelps knows this, Bowman knows this, but many swim fans don鈥檛.鈥
Can鈥檛 Get Enough Phelps?
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