There will be no shortage of storylines as the United States Olympic swimming trials reaches Day 6.Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will battle head-to-head in the 200-meter individual medley, which will become the main event of the night. Two competitors from the race will qualify for Rio, but you can be certain both men will be trying to win in this showdown.Meanwhile, fans can see another battle of decorated Olympians in the 100-meter women's freestyle final. Katie Ledecky, Allison Schmitt and Dana Vollmer are among the more noteworthy names set to compete for a trip to Brazil.Adding in the finals for the women's 200-meter breaststroke and men's 200-meter backstroke as well as a litany of other exciting events, Friday will be a day to remember from Omaha, Nebraska.What to WatchPhelps vs. LochteNow north of 30 years old, both Phelps and Lochte have lightened their workload with only a few races each. The only event in which these two superstars overlap is the 200-meter individual medley, which luckily is enough to give fans at least one more showdown between two of the best swimmers in history.Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports discussed what you should expect from the final:The reality is while eight men will be in the pool, only two really matter. Phelps had little trouble in his semifinal, pulling out to an early lead with the butterfly stroke before seemingly slowing down during the freestyle. Not to be outdone, Lochte followed up in the second semifinal by pulling away from all of his competition to finish in 1:56:71, ending almost three seconds ahead of second-place Gunnar Bentz.While David Nolan and a few others could make things interesting early, this is a two-man event with pride on the line.Lochte discussed the duo's history after the semifinals, per Sports Illustrated:Phelps is the defending Olympic gold medalist in this event, while Lochte holds the world record of 1:54:00, which should ensure an exciting battle for first.Loaded 100-Meter Freestyle FinalWhen big names like Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin miss out on qualifying for the finals, you know it is an impressive field. The same can be said about the fact Katie Ledecky and Allison Schmitt, a pair of Olympic gold medalists, barely qualified as the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds.Swimming World provided a look at the finalists:Despite the history of those competing, the favorites are a pair of 19-year-old competitors in Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel. Manuel came in as the No. 1 seed in the field after finishing in sixth place in the 2015 world championships, but Weitzeil has been the true star to this point after finishing with the best time in both the prelims (53.58 seconds) and the semifinals (53.57 seconds).The young challenger's consistency so far in Omaha is extremely encouraging.Still, you can't count out 30-year-old veteran Amanda Weir, the American record holder who swam 53:02 in 2009 and the second-best finisher in the preliminary races. If she can reach her potential, the rest of the field might be in trouble.Olympic Gold Medalist Not a Favorite'Tyler Clary was one of the surprise winners of the 2012 London games, earning a gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke while Ryan Lochte finished in third. Four years later, he is still one of the top contenders, but qualifying for the Olympics is far from guaranteed.While Clary won his heat easily in the semifinals, a pair of California teammates showed what they could do in the second semifinal and proved to be serious threats for the final.Jacob Pebley, who tallied the fastest time in the field during preliminaries, appeared ready to follow up with another win in the semifinals. However, his training partner Ryan Murphy closed on him in the final 50 meters and ended up with the best overall time of 1:55:04; he will be the first overall seed Friday night.Murphy qualified for the world championships a year ago and finished in fifth place, two spots ahead of Clary, and now it seems as though there will be a three-way race for two spots in the Olympics in this event.With that said, don't count out Sean Lehane or 17-year-old Michael Taylor to pull off an upset during the race.Start of the 50-Meter FreeThe most exciting race in the sport kicks off Friday with the prelims during the day and the semifinals in the night session.With just one lap in the entire event, the men's 50-meter freestyle race usually lasts only about 21 to 22 seconds. The difference between first place and out of the medals sometimes isn't any more than a couple of tenths of a second.Even the reaction time off the start could make the difference between heading to the Olympics and staying home.Nathan Adrian is already headed to Rio after winning the 100-meter freestyle race, an event he won in London. You could see his excitement in his post-race interview:After earning second place in the world championships in the 50-meter race, he has a chance to bring home some serious hardware this summer as long as he swims to his ability in Omaha. Still, 35-year-old veteran Anthony Ervin remains a serious threat as well.Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for year-round sports analysis.
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