Phelps has yet to have the quickest time in the morning heats at the London Games four years after he won a record eight gold medals in Beijing.
He finished third in his heat at 1 minute, 55.53 seconds, trailing Dinko Jukic of Austria and U.S. teammate Tyler Clary to the wall.
Phelps has won the 200 fly at the last two Olympics and set the world record at the 2009 world championships.
He was back in the water hours after swimming a solid second leg on the 4x100 freestyle relay that took silver after Ryan Lochte was overhauled by the French on the closing lap.
''Just getting last night sort of out of the way was something that I needed,'' Phelps said. ''I guess I got to bed pretty late. We're all falling asleep pretty late. We're all excited.''
Phelps' mother, Debbie, nodded her head slightly when she saw her son had safely advanced. He was the slowest qualifier for the 400 individual medley final on Saturday, and his surprising fourth-place finish kept him off the medals podium.
''I have no idea what it was, but I don't think it had anything to do with confidence,'' he said. ''I felt I was ready to swim faster than that. It just didn't happen.''
Jukic had the top time of 1:54.79, while Clary was second-best at 1:54.96 in advancing to the evening semifinals.
''I felt fantastic. The time was faster than it was at trials,'' Clary said. ''I hurt a heck of a lot more at the end of the race in trials. So I had actually said to myself coming into the third wall that I was amazed at how well I felt. Just wanted to see what I could bring it home in.''A/P
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