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MESA, Ariz. -- Michael Phelps tied the fourth-fastest time in the world this year swimming the 100-meter butterfly in his first competition in nearly two years. His comeback has gotten off to a strong start albeit with a much different approach than he took in winning 22 medals over three Olympics. After a 20-month retirement, Phelps resumed training last September with his longtime coach Bob Bowman at the North Baltimore Aquatic Center in his hometown. But he didnt pick up the grueling regimen that had ruled his life since he was a teenager. Phelps has slowly started back and now trains just once a day in the afternoon. No double or triple sessions or plowing through thousands of meters a day. Call this comeback Phelps 2.0. While his workload will go up eventually, for now Phelps is doing half the amount of training he did during the height of career, when he won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "Im sort of experimenting with stuff that I didnt have the guts to do before, like not swim as far," Bowman said. "Im very pleased with how hes doing." This relaxed approach appears to suit both Phelps and Bowman just fine. Their decades-long partnership -- rare in a sport where swimmers frequently change coaches -- survived fiery clashes as Phelps grew up and rebelled against Bowmans hard-nosed ways. "Our last several years together, it really wasnt much fun for everybody," the coach said. Without committing to specifics, Phelps seems intent on swimming fewer events and shorter races this time around. He turns 29 in June, and as the most decorated Olympian in history, his place in the record books is secure. "Im not putting any pressure on myself," he said. "Im just enjoying myself right now." At the Arena Grand Prix meet in Mesa, he competed in just two events -- the 100 fly (he finished second to Ryan Lochte) and the 50 freestyle, where he instead used a butterfly stroke and finished 42nd . Phelps time of 52.13 seconds in the 100 tied for fourth-quickest in the world this year. In his other event, he swam 50 metres of fly in 24.06, faster than his split time a day earlier in the 100 fly. His biggest challenge last fall was to lose the 30 pounds he had piled on since retiring after the 2012 Olympics. Hes gone from a high of 225 to 194 -- about seven more pounds than he raced at in London. "Hes not fat. Hes been pretty strong in the weight room," Bowman said. "Where hes lacking is aerobic fitness. Hes got a good start on it." Phelps figures to improve that aspect during upcoming high-altitude training in Colorado. Bowmans plan calls for Phelps to work his way up to recovering faster so he can handle multiple individual races a day and swim anywhere from one to three relays. But the coach said his star pupil will never go back to the grind he put in to win all those Olympic medals. "Hes much happier doing the training," Bowman said. "As long as hes enjoying it like he is, its good for everybody. Thats what I am concerned about." Phelps is entered in the last two Grand Prix meets of the season, in North Carolina in May and California in June. Those are tuneups for the U.S. national championships in August, where teams will be chosen for the Pan Pacific Championships later that month and next years world meet. "I know if I really want to compete at a high level, I have to be ready by this summer," he said. Whether all this leads to swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps remains mum. "I always have goals and things that I want to achieve," he said. "This has been an amazing journey that Ive gone on so far, and I just hope it continues." In Saturdays finals at Skyline Aquatic Center, Olympian Katie Ledecky won the 800 free in 8 minutes, 20.10 seconds. Katie Hoff, making her own comeback after taking time off, dropped 1.55 seconds from her preliminary time to win the 200 individual medley in 2:12.92. In mens races, Olympian Tyler Clary won the 200 fly in 2:00.39; Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia won the 100 backstroke in 54.40; and Darian Townsend of South Africa took the 200 IM in 2:02.07. Marshall Faulk Rams Jersey . TSN 1290s game day coverage begins on Monday, June 9 at 5:30pm ct as the Blue Bombers take on the Toronto Argonauts in pre-season action. Bombers game day broadcasts on TSN 1290 are hosted by Winnipeg Blue Bomber Hall of Famers Troy Westwood and new addition Chris Walby, alongside beat reporter Darrin Bauming, who delivers regular reports on the team for TSN 1290 all-season long. Gerald Everett Womens Jersey .com) - The Chicago Cubs reportedly signed recently-acquired outfielder Dexter Fowler to a one-year contract on Friday, avoiding arbitration. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic-marshall-faulk-rams-jersey/ .C. Lions. The clubs former starting quarterback, assistant and head coach returned Thursday as its receivers coach. Jared Goff Jersey Darrell Henderson Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday.While the results of this season are obviously disappointing for the Vancouver Canucks -- disappointing enough to cost GM Mike Gillis his job -- this isnt necessarily a team in a terrible position. In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. This isnt to say everything is just fine, but there are teams in far worse situations than the Canucks. A look at some of the positives: Despite this season going off the rails, the Canucks ranked ninth in Fenwick Close, a measure of puck possession. Among the top dozen teams in that metric, only the Canucks and New Jersey Devils (who are an impossibly terrible 0-11 in shootouts) are not in playoff position. So why is that a positive? The Canucks arent going to the postseason, in large part, because theyve been terribly unlucky around the net. Their 7.2% even-strength shooting percentage is ranked 25th in the league this year after it was middle of the pack -- 15th (8.0%) and 14th (7.8%) -- in the previous two seasons. Its very difficult for a team to stray too far from the average over a longer period of time and while this doesnt mean the Canucks can just assume that they will score more next season, its pretty easy to forecast better luck for this group. As low as the team shooting percentage is at 5-on-5, having the likes of Alexandre Burrows, Chris Higgins, Ryan Kesler and both Sedins, their big minute forwards, all under 8.0% makes it likely that there will be some recovery towards more typical production, particularly because the Canucks top forwards still had strong seasons in terms of puck possession and as long as they are controlling play, the odds are in their favour that more pucks will end up in the oppositions net. Add a bona fide scorer to the mix and the odds of recovery would be even better. The Canucks have a solid group of defencemen. The top four of Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Alexander Edler and Jason Garrison is more than capable of anchoring a playoff team. Garrisons possession numbers took a dive this year but, on the whole, this group isnt a primary issue. Even better, they have relatively economical options Chris Tanev and Ryan Stanton to round out the top six. Tanev is also a viable candidate to move into the top four if one of those named above is convinced to waive a no-trade clause in order to upgrade elsewhere. There was a lot of talk around the trade deadline about Edler being available and, while it must be with the understanding that Edler was the unluckiest of Canucks blueliners this past season in terms of percentages going awry, he would be a top pair defenceman for quite a few teams and, since those arent made available often, he ought to bring a significant return. Also, as I noted on Twitter, the Canucks were on a 106-point pace through the first half of the season, but as January rolled around, they had some overlaapping injuries.dddddddddddd At some point, it was either Edler, Burrows, Roberto Luongo and/or Henrik Sedin missing time and they didnt have the depth to make up for those absences. That lack of depth brings us to some of the concerns that the new management will need to address. One, their core is older. Among the top six forwards in average ice time, 28-year-old Mike Santorelli, an unrestricted free agent coming off shoulder surgery, is the only one that wont be 30 by the time next season starts. On defence, Edler (27) and Tanev (24) are younger, but Garrison turns 30 in November and Bieksa and Hamhuis are already beyond. This doesnt mean that the moment a player hits 30, that they cease to have value, but age makes professional athletes a declining asset at a certain point and, by age 30, the vast majority are declining assets and most of Vancouvers core is in that neighbourhood now. Their goaltending situation, not-so-long-ago enviably deep, is decidedly suspect. 26-year-old Eddie Lack has had an okay rookie season, though if he had played well in January (1-5-2, 2.95 GAA, .908 SV%), that might have prevented, or at least slowed, the teams fade from contention and then his first couple weeks following the Luongo trade (.882 SV% in 8 GP) were a little rough as well but, on the whole, Lack has given the Canucks more than they had any right to expect from him coming into the season. Lack has played well enough to have a shot at competing for the starting job next year, with a veteran added to the mix to provide stability. There are free agents ranging in experience (Ryan Miller, Jaroslav Halak, Jonas Hiller, Brian Elliott, Ray Emery, Thomas Greiss) or a trade option like James Reimer that could upgrade the position from its suddenly subpar standing and an above-average possession team with stable goaltending is most of the way towards the playoffs. There is also the matter of Ryan Kesler reportedly asking out of Vancouver prior to the trade deadline. If that holds true, then there would be at least one blockbuster move to take care of this summer, but Kesler recently indicated that he intends to return to Vancouver next season. Even if they are capable of returning to the playoffs in short order, and thats possible, the Canucks need to beef up their young talent throughout the organization so that, even if the Canucks arent necessarily Cup-bound in the next couple years, that they have enough to be competitive as the core moves on. Young roster wingers Nicklas Jensen and Zack Kassian still have some potential to explore but may not ultimately be top-six performers. Bo Horvat and Brendan Gaunce, first rounders the past two seasons, could provide solid two-way play when they are deemed ready to play, but the Canucks need more. These are the challenges that come with the job for anyone running a hockey team and, given the Canucks above-average core, they have some easier issues to deal with than some other non-playoff clubs that dont have that foundation in place. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '