Michael Phelps and Janet Evans headed in different directions Sunday at the Austin Grand Prix. Phelps took another step toward retirement, competing in his last events at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.
"All of the memories are really hitting me," Phelps said after winning the 200-meter individual medley. "It's kind of weird closing everything down."Evans, meanwhile, continued on her comeback trail, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials this summer in the 800 freestyle. Evans, 40, clocked 8:49.05 in the 800, talking a full 10 seconds off her seed time and bettering the qualifying mark for the trials by more than a second.
"It was always my best event," she said. On Friday, Evans qualified in the 400 freestyle, which she considered a bonus. Evans won three gold medals in the 1988 Summer Olympics as a teenager and retired after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
She still needs to drop a lot of time to make the next U.S. Olympic team. Allison Schmitt's winning time in the 800 final was 8:31.94. Phelps' winning mark for the 200 IM was 1:58.52, as he finished ahead of Ryan Lochte. Phelps also finished third in the 100 backstroke — won by Matt Grevers in 53.55 — and drew cheers from the crowd for taking the B final in the 100 breaststroke.
Mark Gangloff won the event in 1:01.08, edging Valerii Dymo of the Ukraine and American record-holder Eric Shanteau. "Being able to do three races in 50 minutes, I'm very pleased," Phelps said. The eight-time gold medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics said he likes to test his conditioning with back-to-back-to-back events.
"Your body is under a lot of stress, and it's a lot of pain," said Phelps, who will call it quits after the 2012 London Olympics. Colorado teenager Missy Franklin also used the meet to test her endurance, swimming seven events in three days.
"I'm exhausted," Franklin said, but "I felt really strong in almost every single event."Franklin captured the 100 backstroke in 59.92 and then competed in a star-studded field for the 200 IM. She finished fifth in that event, as Natalie Coughlin edged Katie Hoff in 2:12.44.
"There's a lot of room for improvement," said Coughlin, a six-time medalist in Beijing. "I know I'm in really good shape. My Christmas training took more out of me than I thought it did."Coughlin said her first meet of the year is usually not pretty. "I wouldn't describe this as ugly," an encouraged Coughlin said.
Former Longhorn Michael Klueh won the 1,500 freestyle in 15:25.33. Texas A&M's Cammile Adams edged Great Britain's Jemma Lowe in the 200 butterfly, posting a time of 2:06.76, while topping the old pool record of 2:07.13 set by former Longhorn Kathleen Hersey. No one was sure how many Aggie swimmers have made the record board at UT's pool, but it's a good bet there haven't been many.
Schmitt erased Evans' pool record in the 400 freestyle Friday, but Evans' pool record for the 800 freestyle, 8:23.59, remains standing.