Omaha, NE – The head-to-head rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte continued Saturday, with Phelps narrowly edging Lochte to win the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Phelps touched in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds -- just .09 seconds ahead of Lochte, who had prevailed in the semifinals of the event on Friday.
The race was Phelps' first of the night, but Lochte had already been in the pool. He captured first place in the 200-meter backstroke final with a time of 1:54.54, beating second-place finisher Tyler Clary by .34 seconds.
Phelps now holds a 2-1 lead over Lochte in finals at these trials. He also took first in the 200-meter freestyle, while Lochte won the 400-meter individual medley.
Phelps later qualified fastest in the 100-meter butterfly semifinals with a time of 51.35, while Lochte was sixth overall at 52.47. Tyler McGill touched in 51.88 to win his heat with the night's second-fastest time behind Phelps.
Reigning Olympic champion Rebecca Soni pulled away to win the women's 200- meter breaststroke in 2:21.13. Micah Lawrence claimed the second Olympic berth in 2:23.03.
Amanda Beard, the 2004 gold medalist, finished fifth and failed to qualify for her fifth Olympic team.
While Beard didn't clinch a trip to London, 11-time medalist Natalie Coughlin made her third Olympic team with sixth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, an event she won bronze in at Beijing four years ago.
Jessica Hardy won that race, clocking in at 53.96 -- .19 seconds ahead of Missy Franklin. Also securing Olympic spots in the race were Allison Schmitt, Lia Neal and Amanda Weir.
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