Olympic great Michael Phelps settled for silver in the 100m butterfly on Friday at the US Swimming Championships.
Tom Shields edged Phelps by one one-hundredth of a second, taking the gold in 51.29sec to Phelps's 51.30.
It was a disappointment for Phelps, the 18-time Olympic gold medallist who had clocked the fastest time in the world this year in the morning heats of 51.17sec.
The 29-year-old is swimming just his fourth meet since ending a near two-year retirement in April.
The runner-up finish was likely good enough to book Phelps's first spot in a major international competition since the London Games.
The meet is the qualifier for the Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, from August 21-25, the biggest international meet for US swimmers this year.
Results from this week and the PanPacs will determine the US team for the 2015 World Championships in Russia, a key stepping stone on the road to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
While Phelps couldn't match his blistering preliminary swim, his performance was a big improvement on his first final of the week - a seventh-placed finish in the 100m free on Wednesday.
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