Looking back at Day 2.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the events that happened yesterday:

The 400 IM was still huge but not as originally advertised. Neither Phelps or Lochte qualified in the manner they wanted. This put Lochte in lane three and Phelps in lane eight. Lochte was strong off the blocks in the first 50m of the butterfly, which is typically Phelps' best. Then Lochte really took over during the backstroke and that was it. At one point he was very close to breaking Phelps' world record, but he let up a bit in the last 50m to settle for just the gold. Of course the most surprising part of this race was not that Lochte won, but that Phelps did not medal. First time since Sydney in 2000 that Phelps didn't walk away with some type of medal in a race. I don't think the reason he finished fourth was due to his lane assignment. He could have overcome that IF he was in good shape to contend for this race. The 400 IM is one of the hardest races in swimming and Phelps took a lot of time off between Olympics. He is not in the same shape and Lochte has really proven to be the best in the event over the last several years. I don't think this means Phelps is done or anything like that. He's just not the best in that race anymore. But he's still a competitor and I think he'll be back strong, especially in his key events. I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves London with six medals in the six events he has left.

There was some more great swimming on last night as well. The U.S. won bronze in the women's 4x100 and Elizabeth Biesel won silver in the women's 400 IM. Biesel swam a great race and was in position to win it until China's Shiwen Ye turned the burners on in the last 100m and ended up setting a new world record.

We got to see Missy "The Missle" Franklin for the first time last night and she swam strong in the leadoff position for the relay team. In the end the team finished third behind Australia and the Netherlands. I was sad not to see Natalie Coughlin swim in the final after swimming well in the prelims. She failed to qualify for the Olympics in the 200m backstroke - the event in which she is the defending two-time gold medalist - while girls that grew up idolizing her got the spots in that race. But she's been the biggest cheerleader for the entire U.S. team. She swam possibly her only race of the Olympics yesterday and I'm glad the team won bronze (a medal which she gets for swimming prelims) and that makes her the most decorated U.S. female Olympian of all time.

One of the biggest surprises was not in the pool but in Greenwich Arena where men's gymnastics was taking place. The U.S. men were expected to contend for a medal, but with Japan and China mightily struggling in qualifying, Team USA qualified first for the team finals. The Americans had some struggles and were far from perfect, but they got through each rotation with some good scores. Great Britain, which had to wait until after the world championships last year to qualify for the Olympics in their home country, outscored both China and Japan yesterday. That is huge. There was no guarantee that GBR would even qualify for team finals. The stage is set for a great team final tomorrow night.