Phelps to swim 400m medley at US trials

 WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- American swimming icon¹ Michael Phelps confirmed Sunday that he will swim the 400-meter individual medley² at the US Olympic swimming trials.

Phelps, winner of the event at the past two Olympics, had said after the 2008 Beijing Games that he wouldn't swim it again in major competition.

Phelps will set a match-up against Ryan Lochte in the 400m medley on Monday, which is the first event of the eight-day meeting.

Phelps holds the world record in the 400m medley at 4:03.84, set winning the gold in Beijing. Lochte settled for bronze in Beijing behind Phelps and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, but claimed the world title in Shanghai worlds last year.

"I love racing³ against him," Lochte said. "He's one of the hardest racers in the world. He'll go toe-to-toe with you until the end. That's excitement for me. I really hope he does swim that."

Phelps is entered in seven events at the eight-day trials, where the top two finishers in each event book an Olympic place.

That raises the prospect⁴ he could vie for 10 medals in London.

"We've done a lot of cool, amazing things and now it's just time to have fun," Phelps said. "We're more relaxed and we'll see after this week what size cherry I want to put on top of my sundae."

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。