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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;MESA, Ariz.\u2014&amp;nbsp;After 234 days, one DUI, six months of suspension and countless hours of training, Michael Phelps returned to competitive swimming on Thursday at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Ariz.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 18-time Olympic gold medalist came back with a bang. Amidst supportive cheers from the crowd, Phelps swam the 100-meter butterfly in 52.38 seconds, finishing in first place and ahead of longtime rival and Team USA teammate Ryan&amp;nbsp;Lochte&amp;nbsp;(53.11).\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was weird racing again,\u201D Phelps said. \u201CIt had been so long.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps bested his qualifying time (52.92) by more than half a second, but he failed to match his world record time of 49.82 he swam in 2009.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That\u2019s not where Phelps or coach Bob Bowman expects him to be, though. They understand these are his first races after an extended break. Phelps and Bowman claim this year will be different than last, though, when Phelps swam&amp;nbsp;52s&amp;nbsp;but didn\u2019t see any improvement, as he was returning from retirement.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201COne of the reasons 52(.38 seconds) is OK here is because he is actually training really hard,\u201D Bowman said. \u201CWe\u2019re trying to do it the right way.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI kind of feel like at every meet last year, I was kind of tapered,\u201D Phelps said. \u201CBecause I really wasn\u2019t doing that much work. \u2026 Being able to go 52.3 tonight, it\u2019s fine. \u2026 I\u2019ll hopefully be able to build and get faster and fast throughout each Grand Prix. Each Grand Prix last year, I pretty much went the same time in every single one.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps pulled away early and led Thursday\u2019s final at the 50-meter mark, but Lochte closed ground late. In the end, the world record holder was able to hold off Lochte\u2019s advances.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the race, Phelps said he\u2019s to the point where he\u2019s focusing on the little things. \u201CProbably some things to fix,\u201D he said. \u201CBut \u2026 I think it\u2019s a good starting point.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lochte and Phelps have a long history, both as teammates on the international stage and rivals, domestically.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI love racing him,\u201D Lochte said. \u201CHe\u2019s the hardest racer in the world. \u2026 He\u2019s the backbone of Team USA.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the 2012 Beijing Olympics, Phelps was adamant about never swimming again. But Lochte didn\u2019t believe a second of it. The two made a bet, the terms of which Lochte wouldn\u2019t disclose.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI called him a liar,\u201D Lochte said. To which, Phelps responded, \u201CNo, I won\u2019t (swim again).\u201D Lochte, confident as always, was able to cash in in 2014 and was bragging on Thursday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps\u2019s qualifying time of 52.92 was the second best 100-meter butterfly in Mesa, only to be topped by his time in the finals. But it was the third slowest he has swam the race over 14 attempts in the last year. In his return from retirement last year in Mesa, he swam 52.84 and 52.13.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps said it\u2019s key for him to continue training in his 200-meter races because that\u2019s where his stroke originates from and his goal is to get back down to 16 strokes per lap. On Thursday, he was at 17.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI can say my stroke didn\u2019t feel good,\u201D he admitted. \u201CI probably needed one less stroke, I needed to kick more, my break on my start was bad. I can pick apart the race 100 different ways. But just getting in the water and racing was something I was looking forward to.\u201D\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps also addressed comments made by Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of FINA.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although Phelps confirmed Wednesday that USA Swimming would uphold its ban on him competing at the World Championships in Russia, Marculescu&amp;nbsp;told the Associated Press&amp;nbsp;that Phelps could potentially receive a special invite, the equivalent of an at-large bid.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201COle\u2019 Cornel,\u201D Phelps said. \u201CI don\u2019t even know. \u2026 This is news to me. I heard it walking down here [to his media session]. \u2026 Bob and I\u2019s plan is to prepare ourselves for nationals.\u201D\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps thanked Marculescu for his support but said his focus was on the meet in Mesa. He is entered in five events, with the 100-meter backstroke and 400-meter freestyle ahead on Friday and the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley on Saturday.\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phelps hasn\u2019t competed in the 400-meter freestyle since 2009 but he and Bowman confirmed that he will, indeed, complete the race. Phelps was the one who first brought up the idea.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CLet\u2019s swim the 400 free,\u201D Phelps said. \u201CJust to see how much I can do, how much I can hang.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When asked about his expectations for the race, Bowman interrupted from the back of the room, \u201CKeep \u2018em low.\u201D \u201CIt\u2019s the key to success,\u201D he added with a laugh.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But the reinvigorated Phelps said he is excited to swim the race\u2014just as he is seemingly excited about everything else these days.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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