GOLD COAST, Australia -- Michael Phelps got a reminder of just how challenging his return to international competition may be when he was asked whether he was good enough to even reach a final at the Pan Pacific Championships this week. "Wow, youre really setting the bar high for me!" the most decorated swimmer of all time joked in reply. Sitting beside him at a news conference Wednesday, Phelps long-time coach Bob Bowman chipped in: "Reality check there." The Pan Pacs start Thursday and run through the weekend. Its stage two of Phelps comeback from retirement -- the first was qualifying for the U.S. team. Now Bowman is predicting Phelps will lower his best times in his butterfly, medley and freestyle, saying the challenge of going faster was the only reason the 18-time Olympic champion came back to the sport. Phelps qualified by finishing second in the 200-meter medley and the 100 butterfly at the U.S. nationals, and will be swimming in his first international meet since coming out of retirement four months ago with the aim of competing again at the world titles and Olympics. Only the top two swimmers from each country qualify for the finals, so Phelps is going to be under pressure from his American teammates in the morning preliminaries, and from the best swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and other Pacific countries in the evening finals. Hell start with the 100 freestyle on Friday, which will feature seven Americans in the heats. Hell also contest the 100 butterfly, the 200 medley and potentially some relays. Phelps didnt win any of his four events at the U.S. nationals, although his times in the 200 IM and the butterfly were both among the fastest three in the world this year. He was unhappy with his freestyle, where his finish let him down. He said it was the kind of mistake an 11-year-old would make. Phelps, who won eight of his 18 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, said he was "kind of rusty on judging the speed going into my walls," and described his turns as "awful." "Those were the big things that I guess I forgot how to do," he said. "Not winning, it is what it is -- I hate to lose -- but I always do understand its not going to come back instantly. "I would rather have those instances now than farther down the road. World championships is next year ... Olympics the year after that. Hopefully Ill be able to fix the things now." The U.S. team had a setback ahead of the competition, with Olympic and world champion Missy Franklin in doubt after hurting her back in training. Team USA spokesman Scott Leightman said Franklin had back spasms during practice Tuesday. The 19-year-old Franklin was resting at the team hotel after medical staff controlled the spasms and issued a statement later Wednesday saying she was feeling better with every hour and still hopeful of competing. Leightman said Franklin, who won both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympics and claimed six golds at the world championships last year, would be re-evaluated before the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle on Thursday. The Australian team is primed for a big performance at home after a winning the swimming competition at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The competition will be held outdoors at the Gold Coast Aquatic Center, site of the 2018 Commonwealth Games swimming, and rain forecast for later in the week is giving swimmers something extra to think about. Phelps said it would be a novel experience for him. His friend and long-time rival, Ryan Lochte, said he grew up in Florida and was used to competing in rain. "You have to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario. The coaches told us about the weather conditions -- were all prepared for it," he said. Lochte and Phelps have long dominated the 200 IM, but arent even seeded No. 1 at the Pan Pacs. Japans Kosuke Hagino has the fastest time of the year and his teammate Diaya Seto is also a contender. "Its no longer just me and Michael. Its definitely become a bigger event, and bigger race," Lochte said. If Franklin is ruled out, more attention on the U.S. womens team will centre on 17-year-old Katie Ledecky, who broke the 400 freestyle world record at the nationals and now holds world marks in the 400, 800 and 1,500. "I can improve. I got some good work in after nationals. Im really excited to see what I can do here," Ledecky said. NCAA Jerseys Outlet . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. 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Van Slyke drove in a career-high four runs with two homers off struggling left-hander Tony Cingrani, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away to a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, a rare comfortable win in their pitching-dominated series.MELBOURNE, Australia - Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for Formula Ones season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a rainy qualifying session Saturday, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will start the race from 12th after being caught out by the wet conditions. Vettel was joined by fellow big-name drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button in dropping out of qualifying in the second session as they struggled on the wet surface at the Albert Park street circuit. While Vettel struck trouble, his new Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo thrived, qualifying second, three tenths of a second behind Hamiltons pole time. Ricciardo narrowly missed becoming the first Australian to take pole in his home race. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg qualified third, ahead of McLarens impressive debutant Kevin Magnussen, who put in a heady drive in tricky conditions, and Ferraris Fernando Alonso. Hamiltons pole position took him level on 32 career poles with British compatriot Nigel Mansell. "Today was so much harder for everyone in these conditions," Hamilton said. "These cars are a lot harder to drive in the wet and the first time for me driving this car in the rain. To be up here is a great showing for the team." Vettel had complained during the pre-qualifying practice session about the handling of the car, describing it as "horrible." The cars handling seemed to deteriorate even further during qualifying, with Vettel ending up 2.4 seconds off Ricciardos pace in the Q2 session. "I struggled with drivability," Vettel said. "We have lost that overnight, so we need to find out why that was." Raikkonen had lagged behind his Ferrari teammate Alonso through the race weekend as they embark on what should be a keen rivalry, and his qualifying ended when he crashed into a track wall after hiitting a wet patch when accelerating away from a bend.dddddddddddd McLarens Button was caught out by the yellow flags from the Raikkonen incident and qualified 11th. Button, Vettel and Raikkonen will all be promoted one spot on the grid because Williams Valtteri Bottas was given a five-place penalty for changing a gearbox. Ricciardo notched his career best in qualifying, bettering his fifth place at last years British Grand Prix. "Im really excited but at the same time still staying calm and collected because tomorrow is what counts, so theres no point in having a party tonight," he said. Rosbergs third position was less than he had hoped after topping the timesheets in pre-qualifying practice and in the Q1 session, but Mercedes had clearly been the fastest car over the weekend and he is still well positioned to fight for victory. "It could have been better but third was OK and we have a good racing car, so from third anything can happen," Rosberg said. Toro Rossos Jean-Eric Vergne qualified sixth in another career-best performance — beating his seventh position at Canada last year. Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, followed by Toro Rossos 19-year-old debutant Daniil Kyvat in an impressive eighth and Williams Felipe Massa in ninth. Bottas qualified 10th but drops down because of the penalty. Sundays race is forecast to be dry, with only a small chance of rain. It will be a journey into the unknown for all teams as they get a first chance to see how their new V6 turbo hybrid engines and reconfigured aerodynamics perform over a two-hour race. Australia is among the highest fuel consumption races on the F1 calendar, and with fuel limits sliced to 100 kilograms this year compared to around 160 last year, Sundays race looms as a test of engine and fuel management more than an outright race. ' ' '