Michael Phelps had to share the honours on Friday, finishing tied for first with Tom Shields in the 100m butterfly at the Santa Clara grand prix swim meet in California.
Phelps, who came out of a near two-year retirement in April in a comeback that might take him all the way to the 2016 Rio Games, was second to Shields at the turn.
The 18-time Olympic gold medallist closed the narrow gap, and they matched it stroke-for-stroke in the final 25 metres before hitting the wall in the same time of 52.11 seconds.
Phelps's evening also included a runner-up finish to Olympic champion Nathan Adrian in the 100m freestyle.
Adrian clocked a blistering 48.17s. In an event that has never been one of his signature races, Phelps was second in 48.80 with Connor Dwyer third in 49.76.
"I'm happier about the 100 free than I am the 100 fly," Phelps said.
Phelps said he and coach Bob Bowman had hoped for more improvement in the 100m fly time over the 52.13 he posted at the Arizona meet in April and in Charlotte last month.
In Arizona, his first meet since the London Olympics, Phelps finished runner-up to Ryan Lochte in the 100m fly while, in Charlotte, the same time gave him victory.
"Bob and I are both kind of annoyed about going 52.1 - it's the third time we've done it this year," Phelps said. "We'd like to make a bigger breakthrough."
Although he wasn't close to Adrian in the 100m free, Phelps found the sub-49-second time more satisfying.
Now the 100m free is another event in which he's qualified to compete at the US championships in August, the selection meeting for the Pan Pacific championships and next year's World Championships in Russia.
Phelps, whose glittering Olympic career included his stunning eight gold medals in eight events at Beijing in 2008, has yet to confirm he has his sights set on the 2015 worlds or the Rio Games.
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