2016 Trials Throwback: The Phelps-Lochte rivalry closes on American soil.
Each day during the pre-scheduled days of the 2020 US Olympic Trials, Swimming World will take its readers back four years to the 2016 Trials in Omaha to recap each event, and will offer some insight into what the events will look like in 2021.
There are few rivalries in swimming that have been more impactful on the sport than the Michael Phelps–Ryan Lochte duel. Between them, they have 10 of the world swimmer of the year awards in the last 17 years. It is swimming’s version of Federer-Nadal, Nicklaus-Palmer and Ali-Frazier. And the event where they intersected the most was the 200 IM. 2016 was set to be Phelps’ last year of his career and therefore the 200 IM at the U.S. Olympic Trials would be the last time he would get to race Lochte on American soil.
Phelps had won the last three Olympic gold medals in this event, dating back to 2004 when he and Lochte went 1-2 in Athens. Lochte had been with Phelps every step of the way for 12 years, and the two were ready to give one final show to the American fanbase in arguably their best events.
Barring anything disastrous, Phelps & Lochte were fully expected to finish in first and second in some order. Everyone else in the field was going to be fighting for third and hoping that either one of the two best swimmers of the 21st century would falter. The third seed on the psych sheet, Conor Dwyer, scratched entirely out of the heats. The next two seeds, Josh Prenot & Will Licon, scratched to focus on the 200 breast final, which Prenot won with a new American record. Chase Kalisz, the winner of the 400 IM, scratched as well.
That left the third through sixth seeds out of the final, clearing the way for the very last Phelps-Lochte showdown at Olympic Trials. If anybody could slip in to the top two, perhaps it could be yards American record holder David Nolan, who had moved to Arizona to train with Phelps and Bob Bowman. Maybe it would be Andrew Seliskar, who had a great high school career and had finished his freshman year at Cal, and perhaps it could be Gunnar Bentz, who was swimming in his fourth final and had already clinched a spot on the 4×200 free relay team.
The Race
Omaha anticipating the final Phelps – Lochte showdown. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
With the crowd on pins and needles all day waiting for the showdown, tension was let up when the two rivals hit each other’s feet walking out, causing them to have a light-hearted laugh before squaring off in the final. Lochte drew lane four while Phelps drew lane five.
Phelps had the lead after butterfly at 25.05 as Seliskar was just ahead of Lochte. Nolan had also taken it out with the pair and was within striking distance at the halfway point as those three distanced themselves from the field. As they turned on to breaststroke, Phelps was in the lead as Lochte out-split him and closed the gap – just 0.07 behind. Nolan was four tenths back in third.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Lochte’s groin had been a topic of conversation all week in Omaha as there were questions over if he could get through the injury and be at his best in the 200 IM. Lochte had traditionally been a better breaststroker than Phelps, but with a hindered leg, he was at a disadvantage. Phelps had started to pull away incrementally on the third 50, using the energy of the crowd rooting on their two favorites every step of the way.
At the 150 turn, it was like watching the same movie you have seen a million times. Phelps. Lochte. They were separated by 0.19 seconds and it was anyone’s game on the freestyle leg as the 17,000 capacity crowd got on their feet.
Phelps, like the great champion he is, did not give up an inch as he touched first at the finish with a 1:55.91. Lochte was second at 1:56.22. Nolan had faded to 1:59.09 for third place. For the fourth straight Olympics, Phelps and Lochte were off to the Games in the 200 IM.
- Michael Phelps, 1:55.91
- Ryan Lochte, 1:56.22
- David Nolan, 1:59.09
- Gunnar Bentz, 1:59.36
- Jay Litherland, 1:59.91
- Abrahm DeVine, 2:00.15
- Andrew Seliskar, 2:00.27
- Austin Surhoff, 2:00.33
On to Rio
Knowing it was the last matchup between these two great rivals, NBC drew in 31 million viewers on night six of their primetime coverage – the second most viewed night of the entire Games after day 4 (the night of the 200 butterfly final). Phelps and Lochte were to square off for the final time – and to make it even more interesting, Brazil’s Thiago Pereira was in the final as well. The Rio crowd showed out well for their favorite swimmer, creating a soccer-like atmosphere before the start, as Pereira was also swimming in his fourth straight final. Not to mention 400 IM champ Kosuke Hagino had the fastest time in the world that year and was a potential spoiler pick.
But Phelps showed why he is the greatest swimmer of all-time and won his fourth straight gold medal in the 200 IM with a 1:54.66 – nearly two full seconds ahead of the silver medalist Hagino. Lochte had faded badly to fifth with Pereira in seventh.
Michael Phelps holds up four fingers in celebration of his fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the 200 IM. Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
2016 Trials Throwbacks:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6: