Michael Phelps swims to victory in the men's 100-meter butterfly final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. (Photo: AP)OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - There won't be a Beijing repeat in London. Michael Phelps has dropped one of his eight Olympic races.
Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, announced Monday
on the final day of the U.S. swimming trials that Phelps was scratching
the 200-meter freestyle, leaving him with seven events at the London
Games. The decision removes the chance of Phelps matching the record
eight gold medals he won in Beijing.
"It makes sense," Bowman said. "No one should be expected to do that twice. Once was more than enough."
Phelps
qualified in five individual events for London and is expected to swim
all three relays. But he's decided to focus on the 200 and 400
individual medley and the 100 and 200 butterfly.
Bowman said
his main concern was Phelps being fresh for the 400 freestyle relay.
While the U.S. has traditionally dominated that event, the Australians
are favored for London. The relay was one of Phelps' closest calls in
Beijing, with teammate Jason Lezak coming from behind on the anchor leg
to beat a strong French squad.
The relay final is on the same day as the preliminaries and semifinals of the 200 freestyle.
"We respect the challenge we're up against," Bowman said with a smile, "and perhaps we'll be more ready than people think."
Bowman
said he raised the possibility of dropping an event early in the week,
and Phelps was fine with it when they discussed it again after his final
race of the trials Sunday night.
"When we talk about technical things, he sees the logic of it quite easily," Bowman said.
With
Phelps dropping the 200 free, Ricky Berens moved up to claim an
individual spot on the Olympic team for the first time. He was already
scheduled to swim the 400 and 800 free relays.
