RIO DE JANEIRO — Fifteen hours after earning gold as members of the 4x200 freestyle relay, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps cruised through their 200 individual medley preliminary heats to set themselves up well for Wednesday night’s semifinals.
Lochte qualified first (1:57.38), and Phelps third. This event is the only one at these Games in which the two most decorated male swimmers in history will go head-to-head.
Phelps is up to 25 career Olympic medals, 21 of them of the gold variety. Lochte earned his 12th career medal as part of Tuesday night’s relay, which put him past Mark Spitz and behind just Phelps in terms of medal count.