Phelps easily qualifies for 200 butterfly final in Santa Clara

Phelps back in competition in Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Michael Phelps has easily qualified for the 200-meter butterfly final at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix.

Phelps touched in 1 minute, 57.45 seconds, making him the fastest qualifier for Friday night’s final in the outdoor pool. The 14-time Olympic gold medalist owns the world record of 1:52.03 that he set at the Beijing Games.

He blew away his competition in the morning preliminaries, swimming 0.44 seconds faster than Samuel McGraw, the second-leading qualifier.

Phelps is competing in his second meet since his three-month suspension by USA Swimming ended last month. He was penalized after a photo surfaced of him using a marijuana pipe.