Phelps jolted after tasting first defeat in a year

Michael Phelps was jolted by a rare defeat and reminded of the work that lies ahead after he finished second to Aaron Peirsol in the 100 metres backstroke at the Charlotte Grand Prix last weekend in North Carolina.

Phelps, on only his second day of competition since his record eight gold medal haul at the Beijing Olympics, was well beaten to the wall, his time of 53.79 a far cry from Peirsol's 53.32.

The loss was the 23-year-old American's first in a final in almost exactly a year, and his conqueror the same man. It was compatriot Peirsol who beat Phelps in the 200m backstroke at the Santa Carla Grand Prix on May 17.

"I don't like to lose and Aaron has the upper hand in our races right now," Phelps told reporters.

After sweeping the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly on Friday - events he won in Beijing - Phelps stepped out of his comfort zone to take on world record holder Peirsol in the backstroke.

The result was a spanking defeat, and a sobering reminder of the challenge the American faces to topple the two-time Olympic champion at the 2012 London Games.

"Aaron and I have had our battles back and forth, that's the fun part about racing Aaron," Phelps said.

"He's a racer, a competitor and someone I like to race."

While Phelps and coach Bob Bowman have not divulged a programme for the London Olympics, the 100m backstroke is believed to be part of the plan.

Phelps earlier qualified

for the 50m freestyle final, posting the eighth best time in the morning preliminaries, but withdrew to focus on the 100m backstroke.

That left the spotlight to Frenchman Fred Bousquet, who set a world record in the sprint last month at the French national championships.

Bousquet, the first swimmer to break through the 21-second barrier, duly added the US open record to his collection clocking 21.33 seconds to edge out American Cullen Jones on 21.92.