Olympic legend Michael Phelps won his first individual gold at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia on Saturday.

Phelps, who came out of retirement in April this year, took gold in the 100m butterfly with a time of 51.28s, beating rival teammate Ryan Lochte by 0.38s.

After the win, Phelps told reporters: "It definitely feels good to have that sort of confidence back to be able to do it in an individual event.

"What it does is guarantee me a spot on the world championship team next summer which is the biggest and most important thing."

Twenty-two-time Olympic champion Phelps has now won 15 golds in four Pan Pacific meets.