Six-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte sports a pair of green Speedo sneakers during the medals ceremony after winning the men's 200m individual medley at 10th FINA world short-course swimming championships in Dubai on December 17, 2010. (Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)

For the past two Olympics, superstar swimmer Ryan Lochte has played second fiddle to his USA teammate and rival, Michael Phelps. But after dominant performances last year at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, Lochte has stepped out in a big way and not just in the swimming pool. Over the last year, he has been gaining admirers in the media and public at large, including corporations looking for the next great sports personality to endorse their brand.

(Photo credit Vogue)

Most recently Lochte landed on the cover of Vogue magazine, joining an elite cast as the fourth male to grace the cover of the fashion and lifestyle magazine and the first man to be shot without the company of a female model — Lochte is pictured with fellow Olympians Hope Solo and Serena Williams. The previous male covers featured Richard Gere, George Clooney, and LeBron James.

Shortly after his Vogue issue hit the stands, Lochte found himself in a Gillette commercial brandishing a razor that has been held by the likes of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.

Some of his recent success beyond the pool can be attributed to his switch in representation from Octagon to image consultants Erika Wright and Shawn Zenga, who have embraced Lochte’s unique laid back personality, highlighted four years ago leading up to the Beijing Olympics in contrast to Phelps’s famous intensity.

This isn’t to say that Lochte isn’t driven, but today, with the help of Wright and Zenga, we see the Lochte who spends hours in the gym and swimming pool, as portrayed in his popular Gatorade commercials viewed here and here, and the Lochte who wears flashy green shoes on the podium at swim meets, a combination that seems to be taking him to some big places.

Switching to a regular racing suit for the first time in three days of competition, Lochte salvaged an otherwise underwhelming weekend performance by winning the 200 IM and setting a new meet record at the Charlotte Grand Prix on Sunday.

Ryan Lochte reacts to winning the men's 200m IM final during the 2012 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on May 13, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Lochte had failed to earn a medal in his other five events wearing a brief, but closed strong by beating Conor Dwyer and Eric Shanteau with a time of 1 minute, 57.63 seconds. It was a pleasing finish for Lochte, who failed to qualify for the finals of the 100-meter freestyle earlier in the day after placing 33rd in the preliminaries.

“It felt good to actually have a decent swim,” he said.

Lochte’s previous best finish of the weekend was sixth place in the 200 free. He was seventh in the 400 IM and eighth in the 100 backstroke. He failed to qualify for the main heat in the 50 backstroke and pulled out of the finals.

The world record holder in the 200 IM, Lochte began to pull away in the third leg of the race with a strong breaststroke. He was never challenged down the stretch beating Dwyer by nearly two seconds. Dwyer finished in 1:59.29 and Shanteau touched the wall in 2:00.46. Sebastian Rousseau finished a distant fourth.

Lochte said overall he was “disappointed” with his effort at the meet.

“I hate to lose,” Lochte said. “I like winning. I mean it didn’t happen but I had to keep reminding myself this isn’t the big picture. The big picture is the trials and Olympics. I just have to keep focused for that, keep moving forward. People won’t remember this meet. They’ll remember the trials and the Olympics. So even though I wanted to do well at this meet, it doesn’t affect me. I know that it will be there when the time is right.”

Lochte used this meet as a training tool.

He swam six races, four more than his main rival, Michael Phelps. He also wore a brief for his other races, but his coach Greg Troy recommended he switch to a regular suit for the 200 IM — perhaps in an effort to bolster his confidence.

“After my swims this weekend I think coach realized, you know what, you have to have a good one getting out of this meet,” Lochte said. “So I put the suit on and had a decent swim.”

While some swimmers are beginning to taper for the Olympic Trials in June, Lochte said he won’t begin that for another couple of weeks.

Lochte said he was pretty tired coming in and is even more exhausted leaving Charlotte.

He plans to return to Florida this week to continue training, knowing exactly where he needs to improve to capture gold in the London Games.

“I’m going to focus on speed, doing little things like my turns and my starts — just speed,” Lochte said. “Right now I have no speed. I have a lot of endurance and I have a good background right now in my training and it’s time to get ready.”

Phelps, the 14-time Olympic gold medalist, beat Lochte in both events they raced on Friday and Saturday. Phelps came in second in the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly. He did not participate in any events Sunday.

Charlotte native Ricky Berens, who defeated Phelps and Lochte in the 200 freestyle Friday, captured his second gold medal of the meet Sunday by winning the 100 free in 49.07 seconds.

Although Berens said he felt “sloppy” in the race, he was ultimately pleased with his time, edging out Anthony Ervin (49.61) and Australian Matthew Targett (49.65) for the win while earning a measure of respect — as well as confidence — heading to Omaha next month for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Berens feels his best is yet to come.

“I’m feeling very confident and this is a huge step in the road toward Omaha,” Berens said. “I’m swimming times that are the fastest I’ve swam in a long time and we’re nowhere near our taper, so to be putting up these times is exciting. I’m having fun and racing fast.”

In other men’s events, Ryan Murphy won the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:58.09 and Chad La Tourette captured the 1500 freestyle in a 15:06.73.

The featured women’s race was the 100-meter freestyle and it was an incredibly tight battle with Lia Neal edging Jessica Hardy by one one-hundredth of a second, finishing in 54.35. Natalie Coughlin, an 11-time Olympic medalist who hopes to become the most decorated female swimmer in history this summer at the London Games, finished third at 54.59.

Hardy finished the meet with four medals — two gold and two silver.

In the women’s 200 IM, Caitlin Leverenz defeated Ariana Kukors and established a new meet record with a time of 2:10.25, beating her time in the preliminaries by more than four seconds. Kukors finished in 2:11.09, while Elizabeth Pelton was third at 2:11.87.

Pelton rebounded to win the 200 backstroke in 2:09.41, edging out Stephanie Proud and Dominique Bouchard.

Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Ledecky won the 800 freestyle going away in a meet record time of 8:25.85, the fourth fastest time in the world this year. Ledecky pulled away early and was never challenged, beating Gillian Ryan (8:36.56) and Elizabeth Beisel (8:37.40) by more than 10 seconds.

CHARLOTTE: Michael Phelps prepares for the 200 meter freestyle swimming event in the 2012 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, May 11, 2012. (Photo by AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps easily beat Ryan Lochte in their last race before the U.S. Olympic trials.

Don’t read too much into the results.

Heck, Phelps didn’t win either.

Ricky Berens beat them both to the wall in the 200-meter freestyle at the Charlotte Grand Prix on Friday night, touching in a relatively slow time of 1 minute, 47.32 seconds. Phelps finished second in 1:48.01, while Lochte was far back in sixth place at 1:49.70.

“We’re all doing different training,” Phelps said. “That’s how (Lochte) has always done it. I’m sure that’s what he’s going to do this year. He’s somebody who’s a very tough racer and, at the right time, he’ll be there when it counts.”

Lochte, in fact, put himself at a disadvantage before the race even started by going with a brief instead of a jammer suit like the one worn by Phelps. Also, the Floridian is swimming a much more extensive program in Charlotte than his top rival, who has only one more event, the 200 butterfly, before he heads to the U.S. Olympic Committee media summit in Dallas.

Later in the evening, Lochte finished seventh in the grueling 400 individual medley. He’s got several more events in Charlotte before he shuts it down on Sunday, heading back to the sunshine state to get in some serious training before the trials in Omaha, which begin in late June.

“None of this is going to matter,” said Gregg Troy, Lochte’s coach. “No one is going to care what happened in Charlotte in another month and a half or two months. So, we’re pretty comfortable.”

Phelps is planning to swim at only one more meet before the Olympic trials. He’ll be spending most of his time in the mountains of Colorado, fine-tuning his conditioning at altitude.

Berens certainly knows that both Phelps and Lochte will be going much faster when they get to Omaha. At last year’s world championships, Lochte won the gold with a showing of 1:44.44, edging Phelps by 35-hundredths of a second.

Berens hasn’t come close to those sort of times without benefit of the rubberized suits that have since been banned by FINA, the world governing body. The best he can hope for, it would seem, is to go fast enough at trials to earn a spot on the 800 free relay.

“I have one of the hardest events in the country,” he conceded. “I’ve got Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps, who are the two fastest guys in the world and the toughest competition. As long as I’m on the relay with those two guys, I’ll be glad to be on their on their team. As long as I’m part of that relay and winning gold for the U.S., I’m happy.”

All eyes were on Phelps and Lochte as they headed to the blocks, with nearly everyone in the overflow crowd snapping pictures of them with cellphones and tablets. But Berens, a native of Charlotte, had plenty of supporters too.

His plan was to get off to a quick start and try to hold on. It worked out just fine.

Berens was about a half-body length ahead of Phelps at the first turn and never gave up the advantage. Phelps hoped to get a powerful finishing kick off his last turn, but he had trouble judging the wall because of a bulkhead that hangs over the end of the pool. He mistimed his flip, didn’t get the push he wanted and couldn’t quite catch up to the leader.

“I wanted to nail that third wall. I knew that was going to be the difference in the race,” Phelps said. “He probably got me by a couple of tenths on that wall. With 15 or 20 meters to go, I kind of felt like I was reeling him in a little bit. I just kind of ran out of room. I didn’t set myself up to run him down at the right spot. Hopefully, next time.”

Phelps wasn’t sure what to expect after a sluggish showing in the morning preliminaries, when he managed only the fifth-fastest time at 1:51.20.

“I felt awful,” Phelps said. “That was probably the worst I’ve felt racing in a while. But I just tried to come in, loosen up, warm up and get ready. I was a little more awake in the afternoon than I was this morning. I was able to get up and put a good effort in, get out there and race those guys.”

Berens figured it would be easier to hold off Phelps than it would be to catch him.

“Coming into this meet, I really wanted to try to do what I’m going to do at trials,” Berens said. “I knew I needed to get out faster and try to hit that first 100 a little better. I like being ahead.”

But he, too, knew not to put too much stock in winning a Grand Prix meet in May. That was apparent when Lochte stepped up to the blocks in a skimpy blue suit, like a swimmer out of the 1980s.

“At this point in the season, everybody is at a different part of their season,” Berens said. “Someone is a little more tired than the next person. Ryan Lochte is over there racing in just his brief, doing whatever he does. Everybody is in a different place. I’m just excited to be where I am.”

Michael Phelps showcased some of his old speed at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, winning the 200-meter individual medley final in 1 minute 56.32 seconds. (Dilip Vishwanat/GETTY IMAGES)

INDIANAPOLIS — As Michael Phelps stood poolside doing a television interview moments after claiming the gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley final at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Saturday night, Ryan Lochte emerged slowly and grimly from the water, his chest heaving and cheeks red.

Phelps, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, dominated to earn a victory in 1 minute 56.32 seconds, claiming his third gold medal and fourth overall of this three-day meet. Lochte, who broke Phelps’s world record in the event last summer, settled for his second bronze of the night — and only his second medal in six events at this meet. He finished in 1:59.37.

As Phelps thrived at this tune-up meet for the July U.S. Olympic trials, showcasing some of his old speed even without taking a break from hard training, Lochte, the most dominant swimmer in the world last year, seemed largely quiet and out of sight.

He didn’t even qualify for the A finals in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly Thursday. He did not get within stepping distance of the top of a medal stand. He swam out of Lane 1 in the 200 medley final.

Yet he showed not a hint of concern after Saturday’s races. As is customary for Lochte at this time of year, he is in the midst of brutally hard training. He has refused to wear the jammer suits that offer at least a slight speed edge; instead, he wore colorful briefs for all of his races here. And he took on a challenging double Saturday night: Just 30 minutes before the individual medley final, he placed third in the 100 backstroke final.

“I’m seeing spots right now,” Lochte said shortly after the second race.

Phelps, though happy with his times and medal haul here, said he wouldn’t think of reading anything into Lochte’s invisibility.

“He’s there when it counts,” Phelps said. “I know that. . . . As long as you’re there at the right time, that’s all that matters. He always is.”

Phelps couldn’t get excited about beating Lochte, but he drew encouragement from his own performances. He finished second to Nathan Adrian in the 100 free, won the 100 fly, then won the 400 individual medley in his fastest in-season time ever. Saturday offered another reason for optimism: He said his time in the 200 medley was a half-second faster than last year at this time.

“I’m probably like, on a scale of one to 10, maybe like a 7¹/₂ to 8,” he said. “I’m heading in the right direction.”

Lochte’s training team in Gainesville, Fla., under Coach Gregg Troy just completed its hardest segment of training of the season, with six lighter weeks ahead. The routine has been the same for Lochte since the 2008 Summer Games, and though it looks ugly at meet like this, it’s worked pretty well.

Last year, Lochte beat Phelps twice in head-to-head races at the August world championships in Shanghai and broke Phelps’s world record in the 200 medley. The year before, he dominated at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif., as Phelps struggled.

In the men’s 100 backstroke Saturday, Lochte tied for third in 54.75 as Nick Thoman won the gold in 53.95.

“The times are irrelevant to me,” Lochte said. “I just know all of that hard work that I’ve been doing . . . is going to pay off.”

It’s difficult to draw conclusions about anyone from the times or performances at mid-season meets such as this. Great Falls’s Kate Ziegler and Towson’s Katie Hoff, who won five gold medals between them at the 2007 world championships, used this grand prix as their first test under their new, old coaches. Both returned to the coaches of their youth this year, leaving the Fullerton, Calif., post-graduate training center each joined after the 2008 Summer Games.

Ziegler returned to Virginia in late March to train under Ray Benecki of the FISH; Hoff moved to Naples, Fla., in January to rejoin Paul Yetter, her former coach at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club who now leads a training group on Florida’s west coast.

“I felt like I needed to be in a place I felt 100 percent confident,” Hoff said. “Paul’s training always suited me as far as giving me that confidence.”

Hoff finished second in the 400 free, fourth in the 200 free, 10th in the 100 free, sixth in Saturday’s 200 individual medley final (2:14.99) and 13th in the 200 fly (2:18.07). Ziegler was sixth in the 400 free, 22nd in the 200 free and second in Saturday’s 800 final (8:33.86). Both say they are adjusting to their new training regimens.

“I felt my training wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” Ziegler said. “Ray and I left on great terms and we stayed on great terms. . . . And the best thing is just being back with my family.”

Michael Phelps looks up at the scoreboard after the men's 400-meter individual medley final at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Phelps held off Tyler Clary to win the event in 4 minutes 12.51 seconds. (Darron Cummings/Associated Press)

INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Phelps hates the 400-meter individual medley. He hates the pain it produces. He hates the training time it requires. He hates the mental toll it exacts. Since he won a gold medal in the event at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, he has sworn he will never swim it again in another Olympics.

Yet he sounded very much Friday night as if he were leaning toward adding it to his program at the U.S. Olympic trials in July, a decision that would set up a huge, highly anticipated confrontation on Day 1 with rival Ryan Lochte, the current 400 IM world champion.

“It’s a race that means a lot to us as a country and for me, somebody who has swum it so many times,” Phelps said. “If it happens, it would start everything off on an exciting note.”

About an hour earlier, Phelps won the 400 individual medley final at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in 4 minutes 12.51 seconds, topping Tyler Clary, who came home in 4:13.01. Though Phelps’s time was about nine seconds off of his world record, it was actually — and somewhat amazingly — the fastest Phelps had ever swum in-season, he and his coach said, including leading up to the 2008 Summer Games.

“I’m definitely happy,” Phelps said. “Who knows [about the Olympics]? . . . I would have to do that well and then be able to come back and swim a bunch of other events well.”

Added Phelps with a grin, reminded that he said he would never swim the 400 medley again: “Yes, it is different than what I said before. I understand that.”

Phelps’s coach, Bob Bowman, admitted in 2009 that it was his “dream” for Phelps to take up the 400 medley after dispensing with it after the Beijing Games. NBC executives may very well have the same dream, and they could be hyperventilating over the possibility of a Phelps-Lochte showdown to open the swimming competition at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

“I know he hasn’t done it in the three years since ’08, but it’s coming up to an Olympic year and he’s done the training,” Lochte said. “He knows he’s capable of doing it. I told myself, ‘He’s going to do it again.’ There’s no doubt in my mind. I honestly think he’d be dumb if he didn’t.”

In other news Friday, teen star Missy Franklin claimed a pair of medals, winning gold in the 200 backstroke in 2:07.97 and silver in the 200 freestyle (1:57.97) behind Allison Schmitt (1:56.79); Towson’s Katie Hoff placed fourth in 1:58.64. Lochte, who is in the midst of heavy training, finished fourth in the 200 backstroke in 1:59.34 and did not compete in the 200 freestyle.

Dara Torres, 44, finished sixth in the 50 freestyle final in 25.47, a respectable time after the 25.36 she posted to take second in the morning heats. Madison Kennedy won the gold in 24.99. In the men’s 50, Nathan Adrian claimed the gold in 21.88 as Anthony Ervin took the bronze in 22.24. Ervin, 30, returned to swimming last year after an eight-year absence; he won gold in the 50 free at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.

In the 400 individual medley, Phelps was pushed hard by Clary, who took the lead on the backstroke leg but surrendered it during the breaststroke. Phelps came home fast, determined to hold off Clary.

“It is interesting,” Bowman said about Phelps’s surprising time. “He just killed himself to do that. He had to gut it out. . . . But our goal was to break [4:]15. He’s in pretty good shape to do that time — obviously.”

Though Bowman pointed out that the 400 individual medley presents a grueling way to kick off an Olympics, the only thing really standing in the way of Phelps’s swimming the event at the U.S. Olympic trials is Phelps. Even Phelps’s mother Debbie has tried to persuade her son to return to one of his signature races. It interferes with nothing else on the Olympic schedule.

“He said he’s never swimming it again,” Bowman said before the race. “I never said he’s not doing it again.”

Phelps has wrestled with the 400 medley since Beijing. He swam the event in yards in 2009 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain his old world record at that distance. He took it up for the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, but performed so abysmally he didn’t advance out of the morning finals.

After that, he announced that he was done. The 400 individual medley was finished.

But not really. He unveiled it at the Austin Grand Prix two months ago, putting up a time of 4:16.95 to win the event.

“There’s a crack in the door,” Bowman said. “Maybe a bigger crack than the other night.”

At the ripe old age of 44, Dara Torres, shown here during the 2008 Olympics, posted the second-fastest qualifying time in the 50-meter freestyle heats. (Itsuo Inouye/AP)

Minutes later, two other swimmers made a similar request; once Torres finished with them, one more walked up with a grin and camera. Though men’s megastars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are here, no other swimmer got accosted Friday morning quite as thoroughly as Torres, who at 44 — soon to be 45 — is trying to make her sixth Olympic team.

In the 50-meter freestyle heats minutes earlier, Torres looked like more than just a fabled swimmer from the past. She posted the second-fastest qualifying time — 25.36 seconds — despite misjudging the start and getting out more slowly than any of the final 16 competitors.

“It felt easy,” Torres said while the two professional stretchers she employs massaged her body with their bare feet shortly after the swim. ”For me, it’s about what happens when I come back” in tonight’s final. ”It’s really about trying to nail down the recovery. The other issue is I ’ll be swimming about the time I normally go to bed.”

Only Christine Magnuson (25.16) posted a faster qualifying time. Amanda Weir (25.64) and Jessica Hardy (25.65) also secured places in the final.

In other news, Towson’s Katie Hoff put up the fastest time in the 200 freestyle heats (1:59.00) hours after having finished second in the 400 freestyle final Thursday night. Teen star Missy Franklin placed second in 2:11.28. Great Falls’ Kate Ziegler qualified for the C Final with her time of 2:04.77, the 23rd best of the morning.

Michael Phelps put up the second-best qualifying time in an event he hates and claims to be swimming only for “training.” He finished in 4 minutes, 21.31 seconds in the heats of the 400 individual medley, behind only Tyler Clary (4:19.02). Ryan Lochte, the reigning world champion in the event, skipped it at this meet because it conflicted with two other specialties in which he swam Friday morning; he qualified for the finals of the 200 free (1:50.17) and the 200 back (2:00.33).

Anthony Ervin, an Olympic gold medal winner who retired in 2003 and returned to training last year, put up the second-best qualifying time in the 50 free (22.56).

Michael Phelps competes in the 100-meter butterfly at the Indianapolis Grand Prix swimming meet. (Michael Conroy/AP)

INDIANAPOLIS —A couple decades ago, college-age kids and teens populated swimming. The advent of professionalism and sponsor dollars led to a new era dominated by full-grown, post-graduate men and women.

This season has brought another trend. It’s suddenly very hip to be 30-something – or older — and back in the pool seeking a spot at the 2012 Summer Games in London after several years, or even a decade, of retirement.

The Indianapolis Grand Prix showcased a handful of former retirees preparing for another Olympic run Thursday. There was four-time Olympic medalist Brendan Hansen, 30, who ended a 2¹/_2-year retirement with the hope of making his third Olympic team. He finished fourth in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke final Thursday night with a time of 2 minutes 13.93 seconds.

“It’s definitely been a test of patience,” Hansen said. “I told myself I was never going to compare myself to where I used to be. . . . But everybody else does that.”

Swimming in the lane next to him was the top American in the sport before Hansen took over: Lake Braddock High’s Ed Moses, 31, who returned to competition last year after more than six years out of the sport. A two-time medalist at the 2000 Summer Games, Moses faces a considerable challenge to make this year’s Olympic team, but he qualified for the night’s A final and finished seventh overall in 2:16.08.

“It’s going to be tight on time,” said Moses, who attended the University of Virginia. “I knew that when I started. It’s going to be hard. . . . That doesn’t deter me, though, from believing I can do it.”

Another ex-retiree, Anthony Ervin, 30, placed 16th overall in the 100 freestyle (50.85). Ervin, who won a gold in the 50 free at the 2000 Summer Games, took about eight years off before pursuing a comeback last year; he has posted surprisingly fast times in his specialty, which will be contested Friday. Ervin enters with the ninth-fastest qualifying time (22.27)

Ervin, Hansen and Moses represent just a few of the former superstars who ditched their goggles for a few years, but couldn’t stay away. Janet Evans, the one-time teen phenom who retired at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, will compete at the Olympic trials in Omaha in June, a long shot to make her fourth Olympic team at 40 after 15 years out of the sport.

One of the greatest swimmers in history, Australian Ian Thorpe, came out of retirement last year, but his bid to make Australia’s Olympic team failed less than two weeks ago at his nation’s Olympic trials. Libby Trickett, Michael Klim and Geoff Huegill also un-retired to compete.

“When I was growing up, swimming seemed like something you did through college . . . then the rigors of adult life kind of consumed you,” said Ervin, who was in graduate school last year at the University of California when he decided to resume training with the college team a year ago. “At the turn of the millennium, there were notable differences in how it’s been professionalized.”

Results here mean little as few of the swimmers are in top form and many, including 2011’s most dominant male swimmer, Ryan Lochte, are smack in the middle of heavy training. Lochte finished ninth in the 100 freestyle in 49.46 seconds as Nathan Adrian (48.62) topped Michael Phelps (48.74) for the gold medal — despite the fact that Adrian’s jammer shorts split in the back seconds before the race.

Later, in the 100 butterfly, Phelps claimed the gold medal in 52.23 and Lochte got ninth in 52.32. In the women’s 400 free, Towson’s Katie Hoff claimed second in 4:07.00 and Kate Ziegler of Great Falls placed sixth in 4:12.98.

One reason Hansen said he didn’t want to compare himself to his old self was that he didn’t want to finish the same way he did in 2008. After winning individual silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Games in the 100 and 200 breast, he finished fourth in the 100 breast in Beijing, his only individual event.

Demoralized and burned out, Hansen got out of the sport fast. He dived into triathlons and helped manage a nutritional supplement company. He had no intention of returning, but missed the competition.

“A lot of the expectations and pressure I had in ’08 was from myself,” Hansen said. “How you react to yourself is really important in how successful you are. Now, I’m going out there with a clear head, a refreshed outlook.”

Moses tried professional golf and a marketing job in Los Angeles. But he never found the same level of success he hit in the swimming pool just a couple years out of high school.

“He’s a competitor,” Hansen said. “He’ll be there racing, no matter what. It’s just that he may run out of time.”

So might they all.

Can’t wait to see Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte race head-to-head? Eager to see whether Lochte proves as worthy a challenger to the best swimmer of all time as he did last summer?

Ryan Lochte congratulates Michael Phelps on his victory in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Well, you won’t see any of that Thursday night at the Indy Grand Prix in Indianapolis — even though both are scheduled to swim in the 100-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly finals at the Indiana University Natatorium.

Lochte, who as usual this time of year is buried in heavy training, didn’t advance to either A final in the morning preliminaries.

His 14th-place effort in the 100 freestyle (50.51 seconds) and 12th in the 100 fly (54.41) earned him slots in the evening’s B final. Phelps got third in the 100 fly in 53.19 and seventh in the 100 free in 50.16.

In other news, a host of 30-somethings splashed around Thursday morning, all on the comeback trail. Anthony Ervin, who tied training partner Gary Hall Jr. for a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney in the 50 free, returned to competition last year after an eight-year absence from the sport. Ervin, 30, made it to the night’s C final of the 100 free. His time of 50.38 was 11th-best.

The men’s 200 breast featured two Olympic stars of old, Brendan Hansen, 30, and Lake Braddock High’s Ed Moses, 31. Both qualified for the evening’s A final, with Moses claiming the sixth-fastest time of the morning (2 minutes, 16.33 seconds) and Hansen, fifth-best (2:15.55). Moses won a gold and silver at the 2000 Summer Games, then took seven years off before returning to the sport last year; Hansen, a four-time Olympic medal winner, retired for nearly three years after his second Olympics in 2008.

Also noteworthy: Towson’s Katie Hoff is swimming in her first meet since returning to her old coach, Paul Yetter, in January. Hoff, who grew up swimming under Yetter at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, has spent the past few years in California but rejoined Yetter at his new team in Naples, Fla.

Great Falls’ Kate Ziegler is also back with her old coach, Ray Benecki, of the FISH. She also returned after training in Fullerton, Ca., under Jon Urbanchek.

At the Austin Grand Prix, Phelps beat Lochte by nearly two seconds, winning in 1 minute 58.52 seconds. Lochte came in well ahead of third in 2:00.30.

Both athletes were unrested for the competition, which may account for the lackluster performances by Lochte, who is known for under performing until he’s on taper.

What is apparent from this weekend is that the title of “World’s Best Swimmer” is far from decided, we’ll have to wait for London 2012 before bestowing that designation on either Phelps or Lochte.

Also in the water on Sunday, Sarah Haase, the reigning All-Met Swimmer of the Year from Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club, placed sixth overall in the women’s 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:09.78. She was the highest finisher among the group of Potomac Valley swimmers that competed this weekend. Rebecca Soni won the event in 1:06.88.

Former area swimmer, Matt McLean, finished fourth in the men’s 1500 freestyle (15:42.46), just behind Thomas Allen and Peter Vanderkaay. Michael Kleuh won the event by a wide margin, finishing in 15:25.33.

Allison Schmitt got her third win in the freestyle events, winning the women’s 800 freestyle on Sunday. She also won the 400 freestyle in record-breaking time on the opening night.

Matt Grevers touched first in the men’s 100 backstroke in 53.55, against a fast field that included Phelps – finished third – and Lochte – finished sixth, who swam very busy schedules this weekend, including the subsequent event. Jack Conger (RMSC) finished 12th overall in 56.28.

Missy Franklin won the women’s 100 backstroke in 59.92 for her second win this weekend.

Natalie Coughlin won the women’s 200 IM (2:12.44), just beating out Katie Hoff who touched in 2:12.95. This will be one of the most competitive events at Trials this year, with the likes of Caitlin Leverenz, Elizabeth Pelton, and Elizabeth Beisel joining the field in Omaha.

For complete results from the first night of the Austin Grand Prix, click here.

At the first turn, Phelps was over a second ahead of the field, and was on pool record pace until he slowed in freestyle, showing obvious signs of fatigue. Heading into his fourth Olympics, many wonder how many more miraculous performances Phelps has left like what he showed in Beijing in 2008.

Phelps, who could qualify in eight events like he did in the last Olympics, will probably choose a slightly abbreviated schedule in London, especially with a surging Ryan Lochte challenging Phelps in the individual medley events. They’ll meet in Sunday’s 200 IM final.

Phelps wasn’t the only Maryland swimmer to open the night well. RMSC’s Charlotte Meyer (17) dropped five seconds from her prelims time to win the “C” Final in the women’s 400 IM in 4:56.19, a new personal best.

Jack Conger (17) won his heat in the “B” Final of the men’s 200 backstroke in 2:02.77. Matt Grevers was the winner in the “A” Final in a time of 1:57.76. Lochte faded to third in 1:59. 53, despite having the lead after the first lap.

Allison Schmitt won the women’s 200 freestyle in 1:55.83, for her second win. She bested Missy Franklin, who placed second in 1:57.86.

Ricky Berens and Matt McLean (Sterling, Va.) battled in the men’s 200 freestyle. Berens took an early lead, before McLean surged ahead in the third length. But a blistering split in the final 50-meters sealed the win for Berens, who won in 1:47.92. McLean finished second in 1:48.02.

Amanda Weir continued to impress in the freestyle events, winning the women’s 50 freestyle in 25.23. Weird finished third in the 100 freestyle, last night, behind  Franklin and Schmitt.

To conclude the night, the relay team of Sarah Haase (17), Ellen Anderson (17), Anna Kolanowski (16), and Corrigan McIlmail (15) finished fifth in the 4×800 freestyle relay for RMSC.

For complete results from the first night of the Austin Grand Prix, click here.

Swimmers to watch on last day of finals

If you can only catch one race from tonight’s finals, the men’s 200 IM will be worth making time for. Phelps and Lochte are both training through this weekend’s events, but that doesn’t mean these competitors don’t want to win.

The reigning Olympic champion, Phelps, is the top qualifier, but Lochte, the world record holder, will be right beside him, in what will most certainly be a preview of this year’s Olympic final.

Haase is the number two qualifier in women’s 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.45, a new personal best for the 17-year-old senior. She’ll face Rebecca Soni in tonight’s final, the 2008 silver medalist in the event.

Franklin was the top qualifier in the women’s 100 backstroke in 1:00.74, but expect a great race from Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin, who will be right beside Franklin in tonight’s final.

The women’s 200 IM will feature Katie Hoff, Coughlin, and Franklin, along with Canadian Olympian Julia Wilkinson, who will be right on the American’s heels.

The men’s 100 backstroke will feature Nick Thoman and Matt Grevers as the top seeds, along with Michael Phelps who qualified fifth. Conger advanced to the “C” Final. Lochte will appear in the “B” Final.

Finals begin at 7 p.m. USA Swimming will have a live webcast of the meet online throughout the weekend. For additional information visit www.usaswimming.org/grandprix.