France's Frederick Bousquet beat Beijing Olympic hero Michael Phelps in a 100-meter freestyle final yesterday at the Charlotte UltraSwim, delivering the US star's second loss in a row.

Bousquet, in his first meet since setting a 50m free world record last month, seized the lead at the start and won the showdown in 48.22 seconds with Phelps runner-up in 49.04 and US Olympian Ricky Berens third in 49.66.