OMAHA - Yesterday was the eve of his 23rd birthday, but Club Wolverine swimmer Michael Phelps wasn't celebrating

During the preliminary races at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, the world's fastest swimmer had been beat in the 400-meter individual medley, an event in which he holds the world record.

"After this morning I was pretty upset," Phelps said. "And I had no idea what to expect tonight."

Phelps smashed his own world record by 0.97 seconds, setting the new mark at 4:05.25. Second place finisher Ryan Lochte was never more than 1.5 seconds behind Phelps and pulled within just 0.02 seconds of him with 100 meters remaining. Lochte dropped over three seconds from his own personal best and also beat the world record, but it was not enough to catch Phelps.

The 14,000 fans at the Qwest Center were on their feet screaming during the race. And after his swim, Phelps couldn't conceal his excitement either, thrashing the water with his fist.

"I hear the crowd from the first 50 meters on, and at the first turn, I thought, 'Oh god, don't overdo this. Don't get too excited for the last 350 meters,' " he said. "It gives me an extra boost of energy to get to the wall because usually when they're cheering that loud it means something good is happening."

Phelps's coach Bob Bowman, who resigned as Michigan's men's swimming and diving coach in April, knew that having such a close competitor would also help push him to swim faster. He said it was the first time since the 2007 World Championship meet that the field of competition was able to challenge Phelps.

"That's what (Michael) does, he rises to the level of the competition," Bowman said. "You have to be pushed to that effort level and pushed into the race the way that you would want to. It's hard to generate that level of excitement when you're swimming by yourself."

Phelps wasn't the only Club Wolverine swimmer to draw attention on day one of the U.S. Olympic trials. Peter Vanderkaay and Erik Vendt were both part of an exciting finish to the 400-meter freestyle finals. Vanderkaay, Vendt and Larsen Jensen were all within a half second of each other after the final turn. Jensen finished first, and Vanderkaay was second. Vendt touched 0.19 seconds behind Vanderkaay and won't qualify for the Olympics in the event. Vent will have another chance to make the team in the 1,500-meter freestyle later this week.

The trials continue through July 6.