Blowin’ in the wind: Phelps wins 200 fly at Arizona meet

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly at the Arena Pro Swim meet Friday night, where wind gusts up to 30 mph whipped up the water and created challenging conditions.

Phelps touched first in 1 minute, 58.14 seconds. Clark Pace finished second in 1:58.71.

Katie Ledecky won the 400 freestyle by a whopping 5.93 seconds. The world record holder cruised through the water in 4:02.15, undeterred by the cool temperatures and buffeting wind that had swimmers bundling up after their races.

“It’s hard not to feel it, but I tried to forget about it as much as I could,” Ledecky said. “I never really have goal times for meets like this. I just try to be consistent.”

Phelps led all the way in winning at the meet near his training base at Arizona State. He had never swam in such windy conditions before.

“I’m pretty sure there were whitecaps underneath the block,” he said. “I felt like I was swimming backward. It didn’t feel very good. I actually thought I was going to fall off the block.”

The wind whipped flags on the pool deck and scattered anything that wasn’t secured.

The 50 freestyle was especially turbulent. Nathan Adrian won the men’s race in 21.69 seconds, fourth-fastest in the world this year. Anthony Ervin, the 34-year-old former Olympic champion, was second in 22.28. Cullen Jones, who is 32, finished third in 22.30.

Madison Kennedy took the women’s race in 24.45. The wind seemingly pushed the swimmers along and made the water even choppier than it usually is in the splash-and-dash event.

“It’s a bit distracting,” Adrian said.

In the women’s 200 fly, Cammile Adams won in 2:08.59. Katinka Hosszu of Hungary was seventh in the eight-woman final.

Missy Franklin finished fifth in the 100 backstroke, won by Maya DiRado in 1:00.71. Franklin failed to break a minute, touching in 1:01.28. Hosszu was third before she returned later to finish fifth in the 400 free.

David Plummer won the men’s 100 back in 54.29. Ryan Lochte was second at 55.35.

In other events, BJ Johnson won the 200 breast in 2:14.16; Michael McBroom won the 400 free in 3:49.04; and Breeja Larson led all the way in defending her title in the 200 breaststroke in 2:26.64.