American swimmer Michael Phelps cruises to two finals in return to pool

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Michael Phelps is back.

The Olympic champion easily qualified for the finals of two events Friday morning at the Charlotte Ultraswim, his first meet since winning eight gold medals in Beijing.

Phelps was second in the final head of 200-metre freestyle in a time of one minute 50.46 seconds. He returned about an hour later to win the final heat of the 100 butterfly in 53.41 seconds.

In both events, he had the third-fastest time overall, advancing to the evening "A" finals.

This is the first meet for which Phelps was eligible since completing a three-month suspension. He was disciplined by USA Swimming after he was photographed using a marijuana pipe.

So much for marijuana making you a lazy drone-like couch potato huh?