It was Michael Phelps' time to shine in the pool as he opened his Olympic campaign with the 400-metre individual medley. Phelps was expected to dominate this race and qualify for a good lane in the 400-metre IM final. However, as the heat started and the swimmers got into a rhythm it was clear that Phelps was not dominating this race, swimming just ahead of Beijing silver-medalist Laszlo Cseh. Cseh took the lead and held it for a couple of laps before Phelps made a strong comeback in the freestyle leg to win the heat by the narrowest of margins. The fact that Phelps won the heat was no surprise, it was rather the time in which he won it that caused problems for him later on in the day. Phelps watched on as his qualifying time was beaten by seven other swimmers, putting him in an unfamiliar eighth lane for the final. Fellow USA countryman Ryan Lochte only just qualified for the final, finishing third fastest in his heat. However, Lochte then went on to dominate an event that he had previously won at the U.S. time trials, whilst Phelps could only manage fourth best from the outside lane, making this race the first time he had failed to medal in one of his Olympic events. Phelps was pipped at the post by Japan's Kosuke Hagino, losing the spot on the podium by 0.34 seconds.
Phelps will be hungry to make amends in his next races after this poor performance. Meanwhile, Lochte will be hoping to keep up his impressive form throughout the Olympics. Lochte was in control right throughout the 400-metre IM final and at one stage looked as though he was going to break the world record, before slowing down on the final lap.
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