RIO DE JANEIRO _ Michael Phelps began the busiest day of his Olympic meet by qualifying easily for Thursday's semifinals in the 100-meter butterfly.
He swam the race in 51.6 seconds, the fourth fastest qualifying time, and pronounced it "all right for the morning." (The race was in the afternoon, but who's going to argue with Phelps?)
In other preliminary action Thursday, Katie Ledecky broke an Olympic record in the 800-meter freestyle in qualifying for Friday night's final. Ledecky hardly kicked for much of the race, indicating she did not plan to chase her own world record in the event until the final. She still posted the best time by almost seven seconds.
After his butterfly preliminary, Phelps turned his attention to Thursday's 200-meter individual medley final, which will feature perhaps the final chapter of his eternal rivalry with Ryan Lochte. They're the two greatest 200 IM swimmers in history.
"Him and I have duked it out back and forth, back and forth," Phelps said. "This is a special one to both of us. He's the world-record holder and I'm the defending champion."
His competition in the 200 IM will go beyond Lochte. Kosuke Hagino of Japan swam the best time in the world this year and beat Phelps' protege, Chase Kalisz, in the 400 IM on Saturday.
Phelps also looked forward to a deafening atmosphere at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium because Brazilian Thiago Pereira will be in the race. All week, the Brazilian fans have greeted their hometown favorites with songs and waving flags. And they'll surely be in fine form when Pereira goes against the biggest star in the sport.
He'll have his own home crowd cheering for him about 4,800 miles away when the Ravens broadcast his race on the video boards at M&T Bank Stadium during Thursday's preseason game.
"It's exciting," said Phelps, an enthusiastic Ravens fan. "I've missed not going to practice this year. I'm looking forward to football season."
