Michael Phelps’ long-awaited FINA World Cup debut was Tuesday in Stockholm. Unfortunately, he didn’t make quite the splash that many had hoped for.

Phelps swam 3 events in the morning preliminary heats on Day 1: the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, and 100m I.M.

In the freestyle event, Phelps went a 47.77 and failed to record a top 8 time that would guarantee him a spot in the finals. Phelps was never very close to qualifying, as the 8th place time put up by Brazilian Nicolas Oliveira was 47.00

In the 100m backstroke, Phelps was disqualified for remaining underwater past the allotted 15 meters off of a turn.

In the 100m I.M., Phelps finished 7th, which was not quite the result he had hoped for. Luckily, the morning results are thrown out and Phelps will have an opportunity to improve his time in the evening finals, where medals and FINA World Cup points are awarded. Phelps will be chasing top-seeded Darian Townsend, who qualified with a 52.48. Phelps’ time was 53.13. Townsend is a World Cup veteran and currently sits in 9th in the overall standings.

Phelps wasn’t the only big name to disappoint in the first set of prelims in Stockholm. Notably, the men’s 100m freestyle saw several big names fail to final. Frenchman Frederick Bosquet, who is the current World Record holder in the 50m LCM freestyle, finished 12th in a time of 47.53. Australian Eamon Sullvian, who won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in the Long Course version of the event, finished 10th in a time of 47.38.

The most disappointing result, perhaps, was France’s Avery Leveaux, who just under a year ago set the World Record in the event at 44.94. On Tuesday, Leveaux finished 28th in 49.17.

In the 100m backstroke, another World Record holder failed to final, as Spaniard Aschwin Wildeboer finished 11th in 51.50, well off of his mark of 49.20.

Today’s results can be partially blamed on the fact that Phelps chose not to wear a polyurethane fast-suit that has dominated the world of swimming for the last 2 years. Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, decided that he should wear a suit that will comply with the new regulations that go into effect in January in order to prepare him for next year’s American National Championships.

The results also show that there are plenty of outstanding swimmers that swim throughout the World Cup series, and that is difficult even for a talent like Michael Phelps to come in out of proper training and simply take over the series.