Michael Phelps easily advanced to the 200m butterfly final by posting the top time in the semifinals Tuesday night at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. The final for the event is Wednesday night.
He needed to be in the top eight between two semifinal races and that was never in doubt. Phelps touched in 1:55.17.
In 2015, Phelps clocked the fastest time in the world in this event since 2009. On Tuesday morning, he was the fastest man in the prelims.