Phelps delivers right on time

So what if Michael Phelps, the newly minted 22-year-old, is working his way through the nuances and finer points of the mystery known as the 400-meter freestyle?

If his coach, Bob Bowman, makes a request, it really shouldn’t be surprising that Phelps will nail it to the very second. Bowman sought a certain time for the opening 200 meters of the 400, and Phelps complied on his way to winning the race, going 3 minutes 47.34 seconds at the Santa Clara International Invitational, the first of his two victories Saturday.

“Bob said this morning, he wanted 1:50, and that’s what he wanted me to go out in the first 200,” said Phelps, who turned 22 on Saturday. “Then afterward, he said ‘You went out too fast.’ So ... I did what he said to do.

“I didn’t think he was serious about taking it out in 1:50. I’m still learning to really swim that race, to be able to do something special in that race. You’re going to have to control the first 200 a little bit more.

“With time, I’ll be able to learn to swim that a little better.”

Said Bowman, smiling: “I didn’t know that was an order.”

For the record, Phelps went 1:50.29 in the first 200 en route to a meet record. The U.S. record is 3:44.11, set by Klete Keller in 2004. The retired Ian Thorpe of Australia holds the world record in 3:40.08, set in 2002.

Phelps dabbles at this one, which is something of an overstatement. Though he competed in the 400 freestyle at a meet this year in Ann Arbor, Mich., he hadn’t raced at that distance since the world championships in 2005.

“It keeps it interesting,” he said. “It makes it more fun.”

There is another event in that mold, the 200 backstroke. There was not much turnaround time between the two victories. Phelps finished the 400 freestyle at 5:45 p.m. and was back in the water for the 200 backstroke about 6:20 p.m., winning in 1:56.95, tying Aaron Peirsol’s meet record of 2004.

One of Phelps’ goals of the summer was to race Peirsol and new world champion Ryan Lochte. Lochte had been entered here but withdrew because of shoulder soreness, largely as a precautionary measure.

That left it open for Phelps, who won the backstroke by a substantial margin. Placing second was David Cromwell of Longhorn Aquatics in 2:01.08. By setting one meet record and tying another, Phelps’ birthday take was $500, virtual pocket change for him.

If competitive suspense was the goal, fans had to look elsewhere. One of the best contests Saturday was a stroke-for-stroke finish in the 100 breaststroke between Leisel Jones of Australia and Tara Kirk.

Jones barely held off the challenge of Kirk, winning in 1:07.09 to Kirk’s 1:07.35.

“She’s the fastest woman in the world, there’s no question about it,” Kirk said.

Kirk said of their differences: “She seems to be getting me at the walls a little bit. I need to work on that.... I thought that was going to be a lot faster [time] than it was. Whenever we race like that, it’s pretty fast.

“I knew we were really close. I was giving it all I had. If I could race against her every weekend, that’d be awesome. She’s going to do what’s she’s going to do. I’m not going to try to break Leisel.”

Every stroke she takes against Jones will pay off next summer, Kirk hopes.

“I think it’s great. Every time I’m close to her, that’s a step in the right direction,” Kirk said. “I’m not afraid to race her.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com