Phelps wins 400 freestyle after bailing on 400 IM

INDIANAPOLIS — Swimmers, beware: Michael Phelps’ repertoire is still expanding.

The 19-year-old Olympic gold medalist withdrew from one of his signature events — the 400 individual medley — then showed he could dominate events he rarely swims.

Phelps led the entire way in the 400 freestyle, winning in 3 minutes, 47.79 seconds in the U.S. world championship swimming trials Friday. It was the first time he’s competed in that race since the 2003 summer nationals, and he made it look easy with a victory margin of nearly 1.6 seconds.

“I wanted to push it out in the first 200 and I pushed it pretty big. I was on American record pace,” said Phelps, the first male qualifier on the American team. “I think, right now, it’s the start of something.”

That’s a scary thought. Phelps already holds three world records, and became the only swimmer to win eight medals in an Olympics that had not been boycotted when he did it at Athens.

His only blemish on Day 1 was pulling out of a race in which he was seeded No. 1.

Coach Bob Bowman said he didn’t want to push his star pupil into two long-distance events on the same day because of a back injury that forced Phelps out of the world short course championships in October. Besides the schedule at the world championships in July likely would have precluded Phelps from competing in the 400 IM at Montreal.

So Phelps opted for the tougher challenge. Unseeded in the 400 free, Phelps coasted in his preliminary heat with a time of 3:55.70. It was barely good enough to qualify sixth, well behind training partner Peter Vanderkaay’s top time of 3:53.06.

“I was not a happy camper after this morning’s swim,” Phelps said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it back (into the final), but once I squeaked in, I wanted to go out fast.”

His prime-time performance sent a different message — everybody must watch out for the still maturing Phelps, who was scheduled to compete in seven events at Indianapolis before giving up the 400 IM.

Phelps cruised to a 3 1/2 -second lead in the first 200, then faltered in the second half of the race. Vanderkaay rallied, cutting the deficit by more than half, but settled for second in 3:49.38.

While Phelps was the headliner Friday, the marquee event was expected to be the showdown in the 100 breaststroke between Brendan Hansen of Havertown, Pa., and Ed Moses of Burke, Va. Hansen, the world-record holder, and Moses, a former world-record holder, qualified one-two, and were to duel side-by-side in the finals.

It was no contest. Hansen won in 1:00.13. Mark Gangloff, of Akron, Ohio, was second in 1:01.36, while Moses faded to fifth in 1:02.21.

The biggest surprise was Natalie Coughlin’s failure to qualify in the 100 butterfly after winning five medals in the Athens Olympics.

Rachel Komisarz of Louisville, Ky., rallied in the final 50 meters to win the race in 58.56. Mary DeScenza of Naperville, Ill., was second in 58.76. Coughlin, who led at the turn, was third in 59.15.