CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – World record holder Ryan Lochte beat runner-up Conor Dwyer to win the 200m individual medley at the Charlotte Grand Prix Swim Meet Sunday.
“It felt good to actually have a decent swim,” said Lochte, who swam in a regular suit for the first time this weekend. American Lochte used a strong finishing kick beat Dwyer by nearly two seconds and set a meet record with a time of one minute, 57.63 seconds. Dwyer clocked 1:59.29 and Eric Shanteau finished third in 2:00.46. Sebastien Rousseau placed well back in fourth.
The win was a nice finish to a frustrating weekend for Lochte who failed to qualify for the finals of the 100-meter freestyle earlier in the day.
Lochte earlier finished sixth in the 200 freestyle, seventh in the 400 IM and eighth in the 100 backstroke. He failed to qualify for the main heat in the 50 backstroke.
Lochte was not please with his overall performance.
“I hate to lose,” Lochte said. “I like winning. I had to keep reminding myself this isn’t the big picture. The big picture is the trials and Olympics.”
American Olympic hero Michael Phelps beat Lochte in both events they raced on the weekend. Phelps finished second in the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly. — AFP