Phelps seals another London berth

By Julian Linden

OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - Michael Phelps booked himself into another event at the London Olympics when he won the 200 meters butterfly final at the U.S. swimming trials on Thursday.

The greatest Olympian of all time remained on course to emulate his incredible eight-gold haul from Beijing four years ago with another powerful display in America's Midwest.

Showing no sign of fatigue or weariness despite his grueling schedule, the 26-year-old powered away from his rivals over the final two laps to win in one minute 53.65 seconds, more than two seconds outside his world record but still the fastest time in the world this year.

"It's not a good enough time to win a gold medal, but I think I'm okay with it," said Phelps.

"Today was the best my stroke has felt throughout the whole meet. So, in all I'm pleased, but I think I need to go faster if I want to win that at the Olympics."

Phelps's Baltimore club team mate Allison Schmitt, who is rapidly emerging as a star in her own right, clinched her second individual swim in the English capital when she won the women's 200m freestyle final ahead of teenage sensation Missy Franklin.

Schmitt followed up her impressive victory in the 400m freestyle on Monday when she led all the way to win the 200m in 1:54.40, the quickest time recorded since synthetic bodysuits were banned at the end of 2009.

Franklin, who won the 100m backstroke final on Wednesday, finished second in 1:56.79 to seal her second individual swim and her third overall with the top six finishers all securing places in the 4x200m freestyle relay.