Michael Phelps still has it.
In his return to competition following a six-month suspension by USA Swimming, Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly at Thursday's Arena Pro Swim Series meet in Mesa, Ariz.
Phelps' winning time was in 52.38 seconds, which bested Ryan Lochte's time of 53.11.
"I'm always hard on myself," Phelps said, via USA Today. "Being my first race back, I think it's OK. There are probably some things to fix. I think it's a good starting point.
"I'm looking forward to more to come."
This was Phelps' first meet in eight months, and the first time Phelps has competed since his drunk driving arrest and subsequent suspension by USA Swimming.
Phelps posted the fastest preliminary time, 52.92 seconds, earlier on Thursday, according to The Baltimore Sun. That time was the best among those that qualified for the finals, taking place Thursday evening. Tim Phillips had the second-best time 53.02 and Lochte had the third-best in 53.17.
“I did what I had to do,” Phelps said. “Afterward, I can say my stroke didn’t feel good, I needed one less stroke, I needed to kick more, the breakout on my turn was bad. I could pick apart the race a hundred different ways, but just getting in the water and racing was something I was looking forward to.”
Phelps is hoping to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. However, he won't be competing at the 2015 World Championships in Russia this August. Phelps has won 22 medals in his Olympic career, with 18 of them going for gold.
