After Nine Months Off, Phelps Starts Out With Two Victories

CHARLOTTE, May 15 -- There were no Olympic gold medals awarded here, no $1 million bonuses. At the Charlotte UltraSwim Friday night, Michael Phelps won $600 and a pair of flip-flops for his coach, Bob Bowman.

But after a nine-month competition layoff and five months of indecision regarding his swimming career, the performance seemed worth a lot more.

"After taking that much of a break off," Phelps said, "I'm very, very pleased. This is an excellent start."

In his first meet since the Olympics last August in Beijing, Phelps finished first in the 200-meter freestyle while breaking his own meet record in the event, then came back less than an hour later and did it again in the 100 butterfly.

In what seemed like a dash of showmanship, Phelps even unveiled the stroke he vowed to keep under wraps until the sprint events commenced Saturday morning, using his new straight-armed freestyle in the last few strokes of the 200.

He won that race easily in 1 minute 46.02 seconds -- more than three seconds slower than he swam the event in the Olympics, but no slouch of a time. In the 100 fly, Phelps came from third to first over the last 50 meters, touching the wall in 51.72, less than a second off of the personal best he swam at the Olympics last year.

"I think it was kind of weird, this being my first race since Beijing," Phelps said, breaking into a smile in front of perhaps two dozen reporters in a meet that usually draws only one or two. "It felt like more pressure here than Beijing. I didn't see this many cameras in Beijing."

Indeed, his victories came in a jam-packed 1,600-seat pool hall clearly not designed to comfortably hold 85 members of the media -- including from Japan, France, England and Canada -- and the scores of fans interested in seeing the world's greatest Olympian in his first race of the year. As Phelps paraded in with the other finalists before the 200, hundreds of fans stood with cameras, camera phones or video cameras, all trained on the man in the hooded sweatshirt and NBAC cap -- for North Baltimore Aquatic Club -- who intently listened, as always, to his pre-race music.

Unlike in the morning, when Phelps, 23, giggled over a torn suit as he stood on the blocks for his preliminary heat, Phelps seemed in his customary hyper-focused mode as he dived in the water for both races. Competing shortly after his training partner Katie Hoff finished third in her 200 free final (2:00.63), getting topped by rising star Dagny Knutson (1:58.63) and veteran Mary Descenza (2:00.49), Phelps looked superb from the start.

Phelps also plans to compete in the 50 and 100 free and 100 backstroke Saturday and Sunday.

"I kind of need to see the whole weekend, but this tells me a lot, actually," Bob Bowman said. "I'd say that's ahead of schedule. I'm really happy with that."

Phelps and Hoff competed in Speedo's FS-Pro, a long-john suit considered virtually archaic in this age of high-tech models that have drawn questions about whether they are performance-enhancing or not.

Bowman said Phelps seemed unusually quiet before the start of Friday's preliminary races and speculated he was nervous.

But he clearly got loose quickly after an unexpected wardrobe malfunction. Having torn a small hole in his jammer shorts minutes before stepping onto the pool deck for his 200 free heat, he began grabbing sections of his suit in an apparent attempt to move the tight-fitting fabric into place.

Seconds before diving in, Phelps -- usually dead serious on the blocks -- muttered to himself and laughed. He couldn't help but chuckle over the possibility of enlarging the tear during a preliminary race that was receiving an inordinate amount of attention.

"I was hoping," he said, "it wasn't going to rip when I bent down at the start."

It didn't. As soon as Phelps emerged from the pool after the easy victory, a television reporter who had wandered unauthorized out to the deck pleaded for an interview. He declined since he had to prepare for his 100 fly heat later.

"Are there really five cameras in my face at the Charlotte UltraSwim?" Phelps said to Bowman, as he left the pool, according to Bowman. "I didn't even have that at the Olympics."