After 364 day winning streak, Phelps is beaten (again) by Peirsol

SHOOT: Losing by .47 of a second to the world record holder after a nine-month layoff isn't bad.

More on The Phelps Phenomenon.

clipped from sports.yahoo.com The world-record holder and two-time Olympic champion handed Phelps his first defeat in almost a year, winning the 100-meter backstroke at the Charlotte UltraSwim on Saturday night. Wearing his new Arena suit, Peirsol got off to a strong start and touched in 53.32 seconds. Phelps was trailing by more than a half-second at the turn and had no chance to make that up against one of the world’s greatest backstrokers, taking second in 53.79. Phelps will remember this one. “No matter who I’m racing, I hate to lose,” he said. “Aaron and I have had a number of battles back and forth. … That’s the fun part about racing Aaron—you know he’s always going be there. He’s a racer, he’s a competitor. He’s someone I like to race.” Phelps wasn’t too upset by his loss, because he’s coming off a nine-month layoff that was by far the longest of his career