IRVINE – Jason Lezak received a jolt of adrenaline from his hometown crowd before Friday night’s 100-meter freestyle final at the U.S. National Championships.
The only trouble for the United States’ Olympic hero was that he didn’t have that surge at the end of the two-lap showdown.
For Ryan Lochte, finishing was no problem. And neither was his tough double. And neither was … Michael Phelps.
Yes, on a night that reinforced the importance of finishing strong in swimming, Lochte shined brightest at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
In the finals of the 200-meter individual medley, the Daytona Beach, Fla., ace separated from Phelps in the breaststroke and used a devastating freestyle kick in the final lap to score his first major long-course victory in the event against the 14-time Olympic gold medalist.
Lochte, 26, touched first in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds, the fastest time of the world this year by almost three seconds and the fifth fastest of all-time.
Phelps, 25, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, touched second by just over a second at 1:55.94, the second fastest time in the world this year.
Lochte is the world-record holder (1:54.10) but he still notched a breakthrough by defeating Phelps.
Phelps had been 38-0 in major 200 IM long-course finals since a third-place finish at the 2001 U.S. spring nationals. In that stretch, he had beaten Lochte 17 times.
Lochte took the victory in stride.
“To finally get a win feels good,” said a matter-of-fact Lochte, who claimed the bronze in the 200 IM in Beijing. “Every time I go on the blocks, I feel I can win. … Yeah, I won but I’m not going to get a big head over it.”
Phelps was equally steady afterward.
“It’s like I kind of ran into a brick wall,” Phelps said. “I think it all just goes back to not being in shape. … To finish a long-course 200 IM, I’m not there yet. … Physically, I felt like my body shut down.”
Asked if the defeat will motivate him to get in better shape, Phelps said, “Losses always motivate me.”
Lezak, an Irvine resident and former Irvine Novaquatics standout, tied for third in the 100 freestyle in 48.96 after receiving a loud ovation. The seven-time Olympic medalist was second at the 50 and neck-and-neck with Nathan Adrian with 25 meters remaining but didn’t have his trademark finishing burst in the final 10 meters.
“It definitely hurt at the end,” Lezak, 34, said. “I tried to hold my stroke together and felt it falling apart.”
Adrian, a sprinter from Cal, touched first in 48.41 seconds, the second-fastest time in the world this year. The good news for Lezak was he still secured a spot on the United States’ Pan Pacific Championships team later this month. “I came here to accomplish making the team and I did,” he said.
Before the 200 IM, Lochte impressively finished second in the 100 free in 48.83. Phelps, master of the multi-event program, gave Lochte a nod of approval.
“That’s a good double,” he said. “He’s definitely swimming very well right now.”
In other news, the result of Josh Schneider’s appeal in the 50 free will not be known until Sunday at the earliest, a USA Swimming spokesperson said. A review panel will decide whether Schneider’s second-place tie Thursday stands after he failed to show in the 100 butterfly earlier that day.
In the prelims of the 100 free on Friday, Schneider broke his left hand touching at the finish, his agent David Arluck said.
