AFP, Irvine :
Olympic great Michael Phelps suffered the first big setback of his return to competition Wednesday as a poor turn left him seventh in the 100m free at the US Swimming Championships.
In a finals field loaded with Olympic medalists, the 18-time Games champion made a mess of his turn at the 50m wall, and had no chance to challenge coming home in the race won by 2012 Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian.
“When I literally took a couple kicks and I barely passed the flags, I knew there was very little chance that I was going to run anybody down,” Phelps said.
“It just kind of stinks that I missed the first wall.”
Phelps ended a near two-year retirement in April, and the US championships are just his fourth meet since then and his first chance to qualify to represent the United States at an international event-the Pan Pacific Championships August 21-25 in Gold Coast, Australia.
He is slated to swim the 100m butterfly on Friday-the event he has raced the most since his return-and the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley on Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m just trying to get a spot on the team and go from there,” Phelps said. “I am ready to have a day off and get ready for the 100 fly.”
The top four 100m free finishers earned PanPacs berths, and results from these championships and the meet in Australia will determine the US team for the 2015 World Championships in Russia.
