Michael Phelps frustrated by 'terrible' turns

In his second meet since returning from a six-month suspension, Michael Phelps was frustrated by his turns at the Arena Pro Series on Friday.

Phelps was not on the podium, with the 22-time Olympic medalist finishing third in the 100 metre butterfly, an event which he holds the world record.

Despite the loss, Phelps was able to put the struggles behind him and remain focused on his goals, none more so than the 2016 Games in Rio.

"My turns are pretty terrible tonight, its frustrating," Phelps said. "But it is at the end of the year [that matters]. In the present moment, it is tough at times.

"I still want to win every race, still want to swim in the middle of the pool but I just need to keep taking steps."

In his first event of the day, Phelps - the former 200-meter freestyle world record holder - missed out on the A-final, swimming a 1:51.44 to finish 14th in the preliminary heats.

At the finals on Friday, nearly 50 minutes after the 100-meter butterfly, Phelps swam a much faster time of 1:49.12 to win the B-final, but the time was still nearly six seconds slower (1:42.96) than he swam at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"I was ready to retire after my morning swim," Phelps joked. "I was pretty upset, it didn't feel good. But it was a good improvement from my 1:51 [last year at this meet] and I ended up with a decent 200 [meter freestyle] last year."

On September 30, Phelps was arrested on alcohol-related charges in his hometown of Baltimore.

Shortly after, USA Swimming banned Phelps from competition, stripping him of federation funding. He will not participate in the swimming's world championships this summer in Kazan, Russia.