US Olympic Swimming Trials 2016: Results, Qualifying Times for Wednesday

To the surprise of no one, Michael Phelps is headed to his fifth Olympic Games. The 18-time gold-medal winner became the first male swimmer in history to earn a fifth Olympic berth Wednesday, when he won the 200-meter fly at the 2016 United States swimming trials.  

"That means the most tonight," Phelps said, per Steve Keating of Reuters. "I think with everything that has happened and being able to come back that was probably harder than any swim I have had in my life."

Event	1st	2nd	3rd
Men 200 Fly	Michael Phelps (1:54.84)	Tom Shields (1:55.81)	Jack Conger (1:56.45)
Women 200 Free	Katie Ledecky (1:54.88)	Missy Franklin (1:56.18)	Leah Smith (1:56.63)
Women 200 IM	Maya DiRado (2:09.54)	Melanie Margalis (2:10.11)	Caitlin Leverenz (2:10.16)

Phelps defeated second-place Tom Shields by nearly a second in his first finals of these trials. Jack Conger finished in third, barely missing out on qualifying for his second event in as many nights.

Phelps previously won the gold medal in the 200 fly at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He won silver in his attempt at a three-peat in London in 2012. 

"I didn't feel good the first two swims, didn't really feel good tonight but getting on the team was the most important thing, and that was the only thing I had to do tonight," Phelps said. "I tried to take it out and just prayed to God I was going to be able to hang on."

Katie Ledecky continued her ascent into becoming the United States' next great swimmer in her 200-meter freestyle romp. She defeated second-place Missy Franklin by more than a second, her latest in what's become a series of scorched-earth performances. The 19-year-old, who won 800-meter freestyle gold in London, has become the backbone of the U.S. effort for Rio de Janeiro.

Just a quick snapshot of what it's like to race against the world's best:

While second is never ideal, it represents a huge relief to Franklin, who was in danger of not qualifying for any individual events for Rio. Twenty-four hours after a dispiriting seventh-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke—one of four events she won gold in four years ago—she edged Leah Smith by 0.45 seconds to qualify.

Franklin seemed just as excited about the relay as her qualification, per NBC Olympics:

Maya DiRado qualified for her second individual medley event Wednesday, earning a victory in the 200 meters. She previously earned a spot in the 400-meter IM in Rio.

Planning to immediately retire following the Olympics in favor of a career in business, per USA Today's Nicole Auerbach, DiRado is making her final run count. She defeated second-place Melanie Margalis by 0.17 seconds. Margalis earned her spot by defeating Caitlin Leverenz by 0.05 seconds in the night's closest event.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports commented on the race:

The United States is the most dominant country in the world at swimming, earning 342 more Olympic medals than any other country. But this is a clear changing of the guard. The 2016 team will be littered with bright, new faces who have limited (or zero) Olympic experience.

After Wednesday, they'll at least have the greatest swimmer in history riding shotgun for the experience. 

Semifinal results are available on USA Swimming's official website.