Olympics-Phelps and Lochte cruise into 400 medley final

OMAHA, Nebraska, June 25 (Reuters) - Ryan Lochte won theopening round of his heavyweight clash with Michael Phelps whenhe set the fastest qualifying time for the 400 metres individualmedley at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Monday. Lochte cruised into Monday night's final when he won hisheat in four NBA Jerseys Sale minutes 10.66 seconds, more than four secondsfaster than Phelps. Phelps won his heat in 4:14.72 to qualify second fastest forthe eight-man final. Only the top two from the final willqualify to swim the event at the London Olympics. Both men were untroubled while booking their places in thefinal, swimming well outside their best times as they tried toconserve their energy for the first of a series of head-to-headclashes over the next week. "It felt fine," said Phelps, who won the 400 medley at eachof the past two Olympics and holds the world record at 4:03.84. "It think it was a second slower that what I did at thetrials four years ago." Lochte, who won the event at each of the last two worldchampionships when Phelps opted not to contest the gruellingrace, said he Buy Cheap Jerseys was impressed by his rival's performance andexpecting a tough final. "I think that was the easiest 4:14 he's ever swum. He lookedreally, really smooth," Lochte said. "I held back in the first half of my race...so I know I havea lot left and I can swim a lot faster tonight. "I know I will have to swim faster because it's going to bea dog fight." Dana Vollmer topped the qualifiers for the women's 100mbutterfly when she won her heat in 56.59, just half a secondoutside Sarah Sjoestroem's world record.