Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte Easily Advance at Pan Pacific

After their opening races of the Pan Pacific championships Wednesday, Michael Phelps said he was "hurtin'" and Ryan Lochte was breathing easy.

Which should make for a interesting showdown between the two Thursday in the 400-meter individual medley, where Phelps is the reigning Olympic champion and Lochte is the current U.S. and world champion.

"We'll see what happens," said Phelps, who has not competed in the 400 IM since declaring he was done with the grueling event after winning it at the 2008 Beijing Games.

On Wednesday, Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly in one minute, 54.11 seconds, more than three seconds slower than his world record in the event, set last year.

"The last 15 meters, I was like, 'Please, just get to the wall,'" Phelps said. "My fitness level is not there."

Phelps, 25, has admitted he skipped a lot of practices this year. He lost in two races at the recent U.S. championships.

Lochte, meanwhile, appears to be near peak form. He won the 200-meter freestyle Wednesday in a Pan Pacs-record 1:45.30, the fastest time in the world this year.

Asked if he's swimming his best ever, the 26-year-old Lochte said: "Maybe. I feel good. I've done the training and everything."

He also was able to focus in Wednesday's finals on just the 200 free after giving up his spot in the 100-meter backstroke final. Lochte's scratch allowed Aaron Peirsol, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the event, to swim in the final despite a bad start in the morning preliminaries that kept him from qualifying outright.

Peirsol made up for the mistake by winning in a Pan Pacs-record 53.31 seconds.

"I wanted to make the most of the opportunity," Peirsol said. "That was very altruistic of (Lochte). He didn't do it for me, but I really appreciate it."