Phelps, Peirsol content

IRVINE — Michael Phelps finally felt good about a swim Thursday at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center.

Aaron Peirsol walked away satisfied as well.

The two are expected to tangle Saturday night in the 200-meter backstroke final. First, they swam in the 100 butterfly final Thursday. Phelps won his third national championship of this meet and 50th overall by easily touching first in 50.65 seconds, the fastest time in the event this year.

Peirsol finished fourth in the fly in 52.80, despite qualifying eighth. He improved his prelims time (53.57) by nearly eight-tenths of a second.

Peirsol was fifth at the turn, at which time Phelps was already nearly a second ahead of second-place finisher Tyler McGill of Auburn.

“It was actually about as good as I could have hoped for,” said Peirsol, 27, the 2002 Newport Harbor High alumnus who now swims for Longhorn Aquatics in Texas. “That was great. No pressure. I got as high up on the podium as I could, and that was good.”

It has been another big national meet for Phelps, the 2008 Beijing Olympics star after winning a record eight gold medals. His 50 national titles is the most in United States swimming history, topping Tracy Caulkins’ 48.

He won the 200 free and 200 fly on Wednesday night, with Peirsol’s second-place finish in the 100 back sandwiched in-between. Yet Phelps, 25, was much happier with Thursday’s win.

It was Phelps’ 11th national title at spring or summer nationals in the 100 fly. The previous fastest time in the event this year was over a second slower, a 51.70 by Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin.

“I definitely wanted to put some distance between my time and the fastest time in the world this year,” Phelps said. “Everything I set out to do tonight was accomplished … I’m probably in better shape to do one event a day than two. My stroke felt a whole lot better today than it did last night. I felt like I hit my walls good, I felt like I broke good. Tonight was a lot different feeling than what I had last night.”

Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, agreed with his swimmer.

“OK, so we’re happy again,” Bowman told reporters after the race. “Michael’s back. We can all take a deep breath … That race was really well done the whole way around.”

Phelps will swim today in the 200 individual medley before he and Peirsol focus their efforts on the 200 back Saturday. Peirsol is the world-record holder in the event, but Saturday night he may have to hold off Phelps and Ryan Lochte if he wants to defend his national title.

Peirsol expects to be ready for his final big race before he returns to Woollett for the Pan Pacific meet starting Aug. 18.

“We’ve got some great rivalries in the sport, and I think that’s a very appropriate way to take this,” Peirsol said. “Not just within our own country, but within the world. There are some great matchups.”