US Olympic Trials 2012: Tuesday Event Schedule, TV Info, Preview and More

Tuesday's Olympic trials are all about swimming, and the showdown between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte is almost as exciting as the actual Games will be in London this summer.

Though Lochte won Round 1—he bested Phelps in the 400 individual medley during Monday's trials—they'll meet again for Round 2 bright and early on Tuesday morning in the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries.

Winning in the Olympic trials, though, doesn't necessarily guarantee a gold medal. These two top contenders have traded honors for years, particularly in the medley; Phelps won the last Olympic gold medal in the event, while Lochte took home top honors at the world championship last year in Shanghai. Phelps, however, didn't swim the event in Shanghai. 

Where: Omaha, Neb.

When: Tuesday, June 26 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET

TV: NBC and NBC Sports Network

Live Stream: You can watch a live stream of all swimming events on USASwimming.org. The fastest 2-4 heats won't be shown on the live stream and will be saved for the tape delay to be broadcast on NBC Sports Network. 

Schedule of Events (via USASwimming.org) 

Tuesday's preliminaries will be televised on tape delay on NBC Sports Network from 6:30-8 p.m. ET. The finals will be televised on tape delay on NBC from 8-9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Preliminaries (10 a.m.)

Women's 100-meter Back

Men's 200-meter Free

Women's 100-meter Breast

Men's 100-meter Back

Women's 400-meter Free

Semifinals and Finals (6:45 p.m.)

Women's 100-meter Fly—Final

Men's 200-meter Free—Semifinal

Women's 100-meter Breast—Semifinal

Men's 100-meter Breast—Final

Women's 400-meter Free—Final

Men's 100-meter Back—Semifinal

Women's 100-meter Back—Semifinal

Swimmers to Watch 

Ryan Lochte

He won't have much time to savor his early dominance over Michael Phelps—the two get right back at it in Tuesday morning's 200-meter free.

But now that he's already become the first swimmer to qualify for London 2012, perhaps he can relax a little, even though these two swimmers enjoy little more than beating each other.

After qualifying on Monday, Lochte told the Associated Press, "I can sit down and take a deep breath and relax. I can just do what I love to do and have fun and just race."

Lochte finished Monday's medley in 4 minutes, 7.06 seconds, and though his time—and Phelps' 4 minutes, 7.89 seconds—were the top two in the world this year, Lochte wasn't satisfied. He told the AP: 

"

That time was not good at all. I know I'm capable of going way faster. There's definitely a lot of places during that race where I knew I could go faster, I just didn't. I just had to do what I had to do to get my hand on the wall first.

"

That's the kind of competitive spirit America loves to see.

Michael Phelps

Of course, after being bested on Monday, Phelps is going to be out for blood on Tuesday. Or maybe he's saving his gas for when it really matters—in London next month. 

After finishing second to Lochte in the medley—losing to his rival in the event for the first time in 10 attempts since 2002—Phelps qualified for London 2012, becoming the first American male swimmer to qualify for a fourth Olympic Games, according to the AP.

Even though Monday's trials ended with a second-place finish, at least Phelps knows where he stands against his fiercest national rival. Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, told the AP:

"

Now we kind of know where [Phelps] is and we feel pretty good about it. This is the catalyst for everything else. When this goes well, everything else goes well.

"

Despite the fact that Phelps insisted after the 2008 Games in Beijing that he wouldn't swim eight events, that is exactly what he's set himself up for in London.

It seems that for some, the competitive spirit never dims. And maybe after this summer, Phelps can add another eight gold medals to his total. He won't retire without trying.