Ryan Lochte Beats Michael Phelps At World Championships

Move over, Michael Phelps. There's a new swimmer in town. American teammate Ryan Lochte beat the 14-time Olympic Gold Medalist in the highly anticipated 200-Meter Freestyle Race at the 14th World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Lochte, 26, overtook Phelps, 26, on the final turn of the race, which brought his final time to 1 minute, 44.44 seconds, just a hair's breadth faster than Phelps' 1.44.79. Paul Biedermann of Germany, who has always been a rival to Phelps, took the bronze metal with a time of 1.44.88. The new developments, plus Lochte's victory over Phelps in two categories in the 2010 World Championship games, are leading people to believe Phelps might have a new rival, who just happens to swim for his own country.

When Lochte took home six gold medals next to Phelps' five at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships, people really started to take notice. While the two-time Olympian has nothing but respect for his competitor, he feels that a new era is upon us. "What Michael did in 2008 is definitely going to go down in history," Lochte said. "It was amazing. But that was three years ago. We're in 2011, so anything can happen. I know, since 2008, I'm definitely a better swimmer than I was back then. We're definitely going to put on a show this meet."