Day 3 of the Olympic swim trials will be the most anticipated of the meet as Michael Phelps, the 18-time gold medalist and 22-time Olympic medalist, makes his debut in the 200-meter butterfly.At age 30, Phelps has lost what the all-time greats all lose over time: his youth. He'll never be great the way he was in Beijing or London, but he's here for one more try."This is my last chance to do it (right), and I want to do it the way I should have done it in 2012," Phelps said, according to Steve Keating of Reuters (h/t Yahoo Sports). "I think if I were to look back 20 years later at London, I would have been disappointed in myself, that I let myself down for how I prepared. That is something I never want to live with.Also facing the crippling reality of "old age" is Ryan Lochte. At 31, his pulled groin was the anchor that dragged him to the bottom of the pool in the 400-meter individual medleywhich he confirmed to reporters following the race, according to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports. He failed to make the team, as two young birds usurped the nest.Lochte and Phelps headline Day 3, so let's see who joins them on Tuesday night's docket.Michael Phelps Makes His Olympic Trials DebutFewer things sting more than regret, and Phelps lived the past four years with it.Despite a successful trip to London, where he became the most decorated Olympian ever, Phelps left London (Brexited') feeling, well, regretful."Going into 2012 was like pulling teeth, it was brutal," Phelps said, according to Keating. "I could barely get to the pool. It was really hard to keep motivated going into 2012, and it is the exact opposite now. I feel like a kid again, I am happy doing what I'm doing."Phelps is the world-record holder in the 200-meter butterfly, and he should claw his way through the prelims and into the final Wednesday night. But will he make the team'Jack Conger, Tyler Clary and Tom ShieldsPhelps' chief rivalswill not relinquish the top spot easily.Can Natalie Coughlin Punch Her Rio Ticket Tuesday Night'Natalie Coughlin, another "old-timer" (33 years old) on the swimming circuit, reached the 100-meter backstroke final with the eighth-best time in the semis.Coughlin will be beside Missy Franklin, who will dive into Lane 7.As Hannah Hecht of SwimSwam wrote, the star power is on the outside, but the "speed and power" are in the middle lanes.With Olivia Smoliga and Kathleen Baker one and two heading into Tuesday night's final, that likely means neither Franklin nor Coughlin will signing the giant Rio flip-flop after this race."I plan on setting a new bar at this meet," Franklin said, according to Nick Zaccardi of NBCSports.com. "That's kind of almost unrelated to what I did in 2012 because everything is so different."Conor Dwyer Eyes Second Olympic Event in 200-Meter FreestyleNow that Conor Dwyer made the Olympic Team in the 400-meter freestyle, he can swim with the added bonus of already knowing he's on the roster.Monday night, he swam like it by taking the top seed in 200-meter freestyle with a time of one minute, 46.96 seconds. He was the only swimmer to break 1:47.He did it with an emphatic closing kick, eclipsing Lochte and Clark Smith in the final five meters of the semis.Dwyer spoke about the pressure of the trials, according to Jacquelyn Schlabach of NBCChicago.com:Pretty much my goal right now is the Olympic trials and being the best I can be there. That event, Olympic trials, I thought sometimes even more challenging than the Olympics itself. Right now I'm trying to be the best American swimmer I can be and then once I get on that team, it'll be fun and getting to represent your country is easier than the part of trying to make it.Dwyer, among others, has forded a new path away from Phelps and Lochte. There's a new generation of American swimmer that is poised to supplant the tenured elite.But not yet.Not if the next guy has something left.Ryan Lochte in Deep Trouble in 200-Meter FreestyleBy now, you know Lochte failed to qualify for the 400-meter individual medley, what with his chronically pulled groin. That event was his proverbial bread and butter; now it's just the stale, crusty remnants of a once-proud slice of artisanal sourdough.Lochte aims for redemption in the 200-meter freestyle, but based on his performance Monday night in the second semifinal, things don't look good for the 31-year-old.On the final flip, he knifed out from underwater in the lead but failed to hit the wall first, as Dwyer and Smith passed Lochte late."All I wanted to do was get a lane for tomorrow, and that's what I did," Lochte told reporters. "Tomorrow is definitely going to be rough, and it's going to be fast."NBC Sports' Rowdy Gaines said during the broadcast, "Lochte out-kicked everyone, but Dwyer out-swam everyone."Lochte's time of 1:47.58 for the 200 meters was only the fifth-fastest, and it wasn't as if Lochte put it into cruise control. He swam with the quiet desperation of a man losing his grip finger by finger on the cliff.That sets up high drama for Tuesday night's trials in that battle of young vs. old.Brendan O'Meara hangs out on Twitter @BrendanOMeara.
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