Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte relish years of competition as rivalry comes to an end

OMAHA, Neb. – Ryan Lochte was beaten by his nemesis. Again.

After surging up alongside Michael Phelps with 25 meters left in the 200 individual medley – their final showdown in America – Phelps budged back ahead and won the marquee race of these Olympic trials by .31 seconds. It was the fourth straight time Phelps has gotten the better of Lochte in the 200 IM at the trials, and the combined margin of victory in the last three is .82 seconds.

“It’s kind of crazy how our races turn out,” Phelps said. “They usually come down to the touch.”

And Phelps tends to touch first. That should entitle Lochte to hate him the way Ahab hated the white whale. But after reaching the wall and looking at the man he can’t beat in an Olympic year, Lochte’s prevailing emotion was not frustration or disappointment. It was something more noble, more profound and more personal.

“I looked up and saw that I got second, but I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Lochte said. “I was kind of looking at him and thinking, ‘Wow, our journey is coming to an end.’ Racing against each other for 13 years – it was really sentimental. It was something that I’m definitely going to cherish for the rest of my life.”

So will swimming fans who have witnessed the rivalry play out over and over. The races have been thrilling. The stakes supreme. The outcomes memorable. The margin separating them eternally miniscule.

And after this last joust in American water, there is nothing left but a final act in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Japanese sensation Kosuke Hagino still has the world’s fastest 200 IM time in 2016 and will have something to say about who wins Olympic gold – but he will have to summon greatness to beat these aging giants. The times posted here Friday – a 1:55.91 by Phelps and a 1:56.22 by Lochte – won’t win gold but can’t be ignored.

“Hopefully the old-man strength will kick in,” joked Phelps, who has been frustrated in his inability to match the sizzling times he posted last summer.

“Hopefully I think [Hagino and countryman Hiromasa Fujimori] will be scared,” Lochte said. “I mean, it’s no secret we’re going to be there until the end. ... The U.S. is not easy to beat, and we’re definitely going to prove that in Rio.”

Specifically, these two guys are not easy to beat. Even in their swimming dotage.

If it weren’t for Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte might be the greatest American swimmer ever. But if it weren’t for Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps might not be the greatest swimmer of all-time. There is a symbiotic relationship to their rivalry.

“We bring each other to a different level, we take each other to that next step, and [the 200 IM] especially,” Phelps said.

For Phelps, this victory was part of a challenging day. He swam the 100 butterfly preliminaries Friday morning, and then 28 minutes after winning the 200 IM had to swim again in the 100 fly semis.

As a freshly minted 31-year-old, that was taxing. Phelps said his lactate readings were high after the IM. Then they shot up much higher after the butterfly. Phelps used both railings walking down the steps after that latter race, feeling the effects.

“Yeah, that hurt,” Phelps said. “Two in 28 minutes used to be pretty easy, but that one wasn’t easy.”

For Lochte, absolutely nothing about this week has been easy. Also 31 years old, Lochte looked brittle and vulnerable on the first day of trials competition – he pulled a groin muscle during the prelims of the 400 IM and finished a beaten third in the final, failing to make the U.S. team in the event he won in 2012 at the London Olympics.

After that, Lochte doggedly pulled out a spot on the American 800 freestyle relay Tuesday by finishing fourth in the 200 free. But the 11-time Olympic medalist remained just a relay swimmer until Friday night. He pulled out of his roster spot as an individual competitor against Phelps, and his happiness showed as he slapped hands with kids and waved at fans in CenturyLink Arena.

“After the 400 IM I thought I wasn’t going to be able to finish the entire meet,” Lochte said. “But I try to keep a really positive mind. .... I’ve trained so long and so hard that I wasn’t just going to give up just because of my groin. I mean, I could have a broken leg and I would still go on the blocks and race.”

Saturday night it will be Phelps’ turn for a gut check, his time to summon something from an aching and aging body.

His 100 fly semifinal time (51.83 seconds) leaves him more than half a second behind the top two finals qualifiers, Seth Stubblefield (51.26) and Tim Phillips (51.28), both of whom swam very well. To earn a fourth consecutive Olympic spot in that event, Phelps may well have to break the 51-second barrier – something he did with ease last August in San Antonio but has not approached since then.

“What am I, in lane 2 or 7 or something?” Phelps said. “That’s new. So that’ll be fun.”

He will have to produce some outside smoke, in swimming parlance. But that’s Saturday. Friday night, Lochte and Phelps were where they always are in the 200 IM – in the middle of the pool, the middle of the spotlight, and the middle of a withering duel to the wall.

Michael Phelps got there first. Again. But Ryan Lochte lost with both class and appreciation for the long journey chasing the greatest to the wall.