CHARLOTTE - US swim star Michael Phelps made a triumphant return Friday in his first finals since the Beijing Olympics, winning the 200-meter freestyle and 100m butterfly at the Charlotte UltraSwim.

In his first title showdown on the way to the 2012 London Olympics, Phelps won the 200 free crown in 1min 46.02secs with countryman Peter Vanderkaay second in 1:46.71 and Davis Tarwater third in 1:47.35.

"I would say that is ahead of schedule," said Bob Bowman, Phelps's coach. "I'm a little surprised. I was thinking 47-high. I'm very pleased. Both of us are."

Phelps, who set a 200 free world record of 1:42.96 at Beijing and won 100 butterfly Olympic gold last August, returned to the pool 40 minutes later and rallied from third at the turn to win the 100 fly in 51.72 seconds, 1.04 ahead of runner-up Tyler McGill.

The 23-year-old US sports icon won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. This was his first day of competitive swimming since completing his epic effort in China and he was faster than his Beijing 200 free prelim swim.

"Beijing prelims he was probably very relaxed and here he was working pretty hard," Bowman said.

Using the meet as a first plunge toward July's US and world championships, Phelps also plans to swim Saturday in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke and Sunday in the 100 freestyle.

"I need to see the whole weekend," Bowman said. "But this tells me quite a bit actually."

Phelps won Beijing Olympic gold in the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 and 400 individual medley, the 200 freestyle and three relays but has shifted gears and goals for his next few years of training ahead of the London Olympics.

Working on his sprint speed in hopes of becoming the fastest man in the water, Phelps snuck in the unveiling of a flatter stroke technique he will use for the 50 and 100 freestyles in the last moments of his 200 free triumph.

Phelps reached the 200 free mid-point in 52.03 seconds and pulled away to the finish aided by his new stroke.

"He said if he felt good he might throw in some of that," Bowman said. "He waited until he knew he had them before he threw it in."

Phelps was second to Tarwater in 1:50.46 in a morning 200 free preliminary heat that ended the longest competitive layoff of his career, but won his 100 fly heat in 53.41 seconds to advance third overall in each event.

Laughing on the starting block for the heat that marked his return, Phelps was relaxed despite having a bodyguard and global media attention, remarking, "Are there really five cameras in my face at the Charlotte UltraSwim? I didn't have that at the Olympics."

Cameras have been an issue for Phelps recently.

UltraSwim is his first meet following a three-month USA Swimming ban for being photographed holding a bong, a pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana. The picture was published in a British newspaper in February.