NBC Olympics Live: Michael Phelps Beats Chad de Clos in 100 Fly Semi-Final; Final Race Tomorrow
Michael Phelps managed to finish first in the 100-Meter Butterfly Semi-Finals on Thursday. Phelps clocked in at 50.86 seconds, beating Chad de Clos, who won the second heat. The amazing swim for the 100 Fly Final can be seen tomorrow on NBC Olympics live coverage.
During the 100-Meter Butterfly preliminaries, le Clos of South Africa clocked in 51.54 seconds and Phelps at 51.72. However, the South African swimmer said he didn't think he could beat Phelps again in the semi-finals of the event.
"It's too short for me I think," le Clos said. "It will be a completely different race. These guys will be a lot quicker than this morning. I hope I can swim the fast time which will get me in the final."
Phelps' specialty is usually in the fly. During his previous 2 Olympic appearances, he has won gold in the 200-Meter Butterfly. However, during the 2012 London Olympic games, Phelps failed to impress by taking silver in his most popular relay and le Clos taking gold.
Phelps earned another victory during the Thursday events winning the 200-Meter Individual Medley Final against Ryan Lochte.
Phelps now holds a record for being the first male swimmer to win the same Olympics event three times in a row. He clocked in at 1 minute, 54.27, beating Lochte who came in third.
Lochte has had a difficult time of late. His team was in the gold medal position in the 4x100 Free Relay when he started the final leg, but he was caught swimming anchor leaving his teammates disappointed to miss out on the gold. Following that he only finished fourth in the 200 Free, missing out on another medal.
Lochte said, "I did my best. I guess sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I gave it 110 percent. There's probably some things I messed up on, but you live and learn."
Although the media has suggested a bitter rivalry between Phelps and Locthe, Lochte admits he does not count Phelps as an enemy but as a friendly competitor.
"I don't really have any enemies, so I can't really say he's my enemy," Lochte said, regarding Phelps.
"He's my competitor. Me and him have created a great rivalry, but at the same time we've created a great friendship. No matter win or lose, after the race we're still going to be friends," the swimmer continued.
