Stunner at US Olympic trials as Kalisz outguns Lochte

(From left) Jay Litherland, Chase Kalisz and Ryan Lochte at the starting blocks for the men's 400m individual medley finals in the US Olympic swimming team trials.

 Ryan Lochte powered out to a big lead in the event he won four years ago at the London Olympics, his powerful arms churning through the water, looking very much like a lock for another trip to the games.
Actually, he was trying to hide the pain. By the end, it was apparent to everyone.
In a stunner on the very first night of the US swimming trials, an ailing Lochte was denied a chance to defend his Olympic title in the 400-metre individual medley, finishing third Sunday behind a pair of college teammates who raced right by him on the closing laps.
"I went out there and did my best," Lochte said. "It wasn't enough." Lochte appeared to be swimming in molasses on the breaststroke and freestyle legs, allowing Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland to claim the two spots on the US team for Rio. Actually, the 11-time Olympic medalist was hindered by a groin injury sustained in the morning preliminaries.
"I thought about ... scratching," Lochte said. "But, I mean, it's the Olympic trials. If I had a broken leg, I'd still go out there and swim."
Lochte is entered in five more events in Omaha, giving the 31-year-old plenty of chances to make his fourth Olympic team. But the groin injury raises doubts about how effective he'll be in any of those races.
"I'm going to keep working on it day in and day out, and hopefully it gets better," said Lochte, who might get a cortisone shot to help deal with the pain.
He tried to compensate for his injury by going out faster than usual on the butterfly and backstroke legs, giving him a two body-length lead at the midway point.
That wasn't nearly enough.
With his legs of little use on the breaststroke, Lochte ceded the lead to Kalisz. Then it was Litherland blowing past Lochte on the freestyle to take the second spot for Brazil.
Kalisz and Litherland hugged and whooped it up in the water, the University of Georgia teammates both headed to their first Olympics.
Lochte hung on a lane rope, totally exhausted. He finally made it over to the side of the pool, struggling just to climb out of the water.
"I had to go out faster than usual because I couldn't use my legs in breaststroke," Lochte said. "Just got to forget about that and move forward." Kalisz won in 4 minutes, 9.541 seconds, and Litherland was next in 4:11.021. - AP