CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps has arrived in North Carolina for his first meet since his record triumph at the Beijing Olympics.

He is coming off a three-month suspension resulting from a picture showing him with a marijuana pipe. Phelps is pointing toward the 2012 Olympics and plans to retire after the London Games.
He will compete in five events at the Charlotte Ultraswim beginning Friday: the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Only two of those events — the 200 free and 100 fly — were on his program in Beijing, where he won eight gold medals.
His return has drawn media from France, Britain and Japan for a meet that would normally attract little attention during a non-Olympic year.