Phelps wins two medals at SoCal finale

Michael Phelps wrapped up his first meet of 2010 with a pair of medals Monday night.

The Baltimore native won the 100-yard butterfly final at the Southern California Grand Prix in Long Beach, and followed that with a bronze medal in the 100y backstroke. Phelps also competed in the 100y breaststroke final, in which he placed fifth.

Phelps swam the 100y butterfly in 48.09 seconds during his preliminary swim on Monday, but shaved over two seconds off that time in the finals en route to a 45.68 finish. The 100y backstroke, a relatively new race for Phelps, also yielded some improvement in his time. His finals finish of 46.67 was quicker than his prelim time of 48.37.

Matt Grevers, who won two races on Saturday and two more on Sunday, claimed victory in Monday's 100y backstroke after touching the wall in 45.97. Grevers finished third in the 100y butterfly.

Phelps also dropped nearly two seconds off his prelim time in the 100y breaststroke, but his result of 54.25 did not earn him a medal. Kosuke Kitajima of Japan took gold in that event after stopping the clock in 52.17.

Japan's Hidemasa Sano won the men's 200y individual medley in 1:43.79, while Zane Grothe took the men's 1650y freestyle title (15:11.89).

Phelps won the 400y IM on Sunday and the 500y freestyle Saturday.