Phelps squeezed in as the eighth and last swimmer in the heats.

The American swimmer, who won eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics, finished in 1 minute, 53.82 seconds to make the final. Phelps is competing in an old-style swimsuit.

Nikolay Skvortsov of Russia had the fastest qualifying time in 1:52.44.

Phelps later did not show up for his heat in the 100 medley. Sergey Fesikov of Russia set a world record in that event when he won his heat in 50.95 seconds. That broke the mark of Ryan Lochte of the United States, who swam 51.15 in Manchester, England, on April 13, 2008.