ORLANDO -- Japan's Takashi Yamamoto placed second in the men's 200-meter butterfly and Masami Tanaka was also second in the women's 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Spring National Championships on Wednesday.
A day after Sachiko Yamada rewrote her national record in the women's 800 freestyle final in the five-day meet in Florida, Yamamoto, swimming in Lane 5, clocked 1 minute, 57.65 seconds to finish behind Thomas Malchow, who started in the next lane and touched the wall in 1:57.06.
Meanwhile, Tanaka's time in the 200 breaststroke final was 2:29.41, over four seconds behind world record holder Amanda Beard, who cruised to victory in 2:24.97. Yamada came home fifth in 2:15.43 in the women's 200 backstroke.
Meanwhile, Michael Phelps had personal-best times in two events, narrowly missing a world record in one of them. Phelps finished the 200-meter backstroke in 1 minute, 55.30 seconds, just short of Aaron Peirsol's world and American record of 1:55.15.
Phelps' time is the second-fastest ever in the event, one of 11 he is now qualified in for the Olympic trials in July. The 19-year-old Phelps also swam a personal best of 49.05 to win the 100 freestyle. He was seventh after 50 meters following a slow start, but still won by half a second over runnerup Frans Neethling.
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