Lochte, Phelps reach 200m free semifinals

 WASHINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Both Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps reached the semifinals of the men's 200m freestyle at the US Olympic swimming trials.

Lochte, who beat Phelps in the event for the world title at Shanghai worlds last year, clocked one minute 48.14 seconds to be the fastest in the heats.

Charlie Houchin had the second-quickest time of the morning of 1:48.15 and Phelps, the reigning¹ Olympic champion and former world record-holder, was third fastest -- winning his heat in 1:48.31.

Lochte edged Phelps to win the 400m individual medley² Monday, while Phelps finished the second. The top-two finishers in each final secure spots in the team for the London Games.

"This morning felt pretty comfortable, so hopefully we can just keep everything rolling for the rest of the meet," Phelps said. "Definitely happy with getting last night out of the way early."

Whether he could match his unprecedented³ eight-gold haul⁴ of Beijing, Phelps said: "Anything can happen. You've got to be in the right place at the right time."

Lochte also claimed a second-fastest time behind Matt Grevers in the 100m backstroke heats Tuesday.

Missy Franklin, 17, led the way into the semifinals of the women's 100m backstroke in 59.54.

Rachel Bootsma, 18, was second quickest in 59.69, followed by 18-year-old Elizabeth Pelton and 17-year-old Olivia Smoliga.

The 29-year-old Natalie Coughlin was the fifth-fastest qualifier, clocking 1:00.71.

World champion Rebecca Soni led the way into the 100m breaststroke semifinals with a time of 1:06.33.

Allison Schmitt led the way into the women's 400m freestyle final ahead of Kathleen Ledecky and Chloe Sutton.

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 haul   

vt./n.（用力）拖，拉，（用车等）拖运，运送

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• The rope stood up under the strain of the haul.这绳子经受不住紧拉。