U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps barely qualifies for 400-m. individual medley

 28/07/12

(AP) LONDON - Michael Phelps barely qualified in the 400-meter individual medley on the opening day of Olympic swimming Saturday, squeaking into the final by seven-hundredths of a second.

"That one didn't feel too good," he said.

Phelps wasn't the only surprise of the morning at the Aquatics Centre, where Queen Elizabeth appeared briefly.

Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan of South Korea won his 400 freestyle heat, but was disqualified for a false start. Paul Biedermann of Germany, the world record holder in the event, failed to make the final.

"That's the Olympics," said Canadian Ryan Cochrane, who barely made the 400 free final. "It's always a surprise, every single heat. You just have to focus on your own race."

South Korea officially protested defending champion Park Tae-hwan's disqualification. The protest went to FINA's technical swimming committee, which upheld the disqualification. South Korea then took it to a jury of appeal, which will now decide the case.According to FINA rules, the jury of appeal includes all 22 members of the FINA Bureau, plus honorary members and the FINA president or vice president.Park was first to touch the wall in his heat Saturday and appeared bewildered when told of the disqualification. "I don't know why," Park said. "I need to speak to my coach to find out."Sun Yang of China led the heats, while Ryan Cochrane of Canada took the last qualifying position in eighth. Cochrane could miss out on the final later Saturday if Park is reinstated.FINA rules state: "Any swimmer starting before the starting signal has been given, shall be disqualified. If the starting signal sounds before the disqualification is declared, the race shall continue and the swimmer or swimmers shall be disqualified upon completion of the race."First night starts with a splash: Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte
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Michael Phelps drops 200 freestyle, gives up bid for 8 golds in LondonPhelps, the two-time defending Olympic champion, won his 400 IM preliminary heat in 4 minutes, 13.33 seconds with a time that was well off his world record of 4:03.84 set four years ago in Beijing, when Phelps won a record eight gold medals.But it was only good enough to secure the last spot in the evening final, when Phelps will swim in Lane 8 instead of the middle of the pool.

"The only thing that matters is just getting a spot in," he said. "You can't win the gold medal from the morning."