Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American former competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and 12-time Olympic medalist. He is the third-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

and

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky ( ; born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the List of individual gold medalists in swimming at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships (women)#Title leaders, most deco ...

. Lochte's seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men's swimming (again to Michael Phelps), tied for second among all Olympic swimmers. He currently holds the world records in the 200-meter individual medley, and, as part of the American team, in the 4×200-meter freestyle (both

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champion ...

). Lochte's success has earned him SwimSwam's Swammy Award for U.S. Male Swimmer of the Year in 2013, the World Swimmer of the Year Award, and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year three times. He has won a total of 90 medals in major international competition (54 gold, 22 silver, and 14 bronze) spanning the Olympics, the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, and Pan Pacific Championships, including six Olympic gold medals and 39 world championship titles. Lochte specializes in the

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

and individual medley but is also a freestyle and

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater. Lochte is also known for his dominance in the short course format (25-yard and 25-meter-long pools). Lochte swam the 100-meter individual medley in a then-world record 50.71 seconds on December 15, 2012, at the FINA World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. At this same event, he is also credited with swimming the then-fastest 200-meter individual medley, finishing in 1 minute 49.63 seconds. In 2016, Lochte generated international controversy when he claimed that he and three other American swimmers had been pulled over and robbed by armed men with police badges while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. While initial news stories reported that Lochte and three other US swimmers had been robbed at gunpoint after a night out in Rio, later details emerged that the "armed robbers posing as police" were actually security guards at a gas station where the swimmers had urinated outside the bathroom and Lochte allegedly vandalized a framed poster, and ended with the swimmers providing money to the guards. Some of the swimmers were detained in Brazil as witnesses. Ultimately, the athletes each released statements, and one swimmer paid a fine of approximately $10,800 to a Brazilian charity in order to get his passport back. Lochte apologized for not being more candid about the gas station dispute, and subsequently lost four major sponsorships. On September 8, both the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming suspended Lochte for 10 months and Bentz, Conger, and Feigen for four months. Additionally, Lochte was required to complete 20 hours of community service, and Bentz was required to complete 10 hours. All were made ineligible for financial support during their suspensions, removed from the U.S. Olympic delegation to the White House, barred from U.S. Olympic training centers, and blocked from attending USA Swimming's year-end Golden Goggles celebration. Lochte was charged in Brazil with falsely reporting a crime. The scandal gained significant media attention both during the games and after their conclusion. In July 2017, the court in Brazil dismissed the charges against Lochte, saying his actions "did not rise to the level of filing a false crime report." On July 23, 2018, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency imposed a 14-month suspension from competition on Lochte because he had received a "prohibited intravenous infusion." Lochte immediately accepted the sanction."US Swimming Athlete Ryan Lochte Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation", 23 July 2018 press release by US Anti-Doping Agency, Colorado Springs, CO
Retrieved July 27, 2018. On May 24, 2018, the same day he had received the infusion, Lochte had posted a picture – since deleted – on Instagram "showing him receiving an intravenous injection of what he says were 'vitamins'," even though the USADA bans "intravenous infusions of permitted substances at volumes greater than in a 12-hour period without a special 'Therapeutic Use Exemption'," '' Vox'' reported.

Early life

Lochte was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, the son of Ileana "Ike" Aramburu-Lochte and Steven R. Lochte. His mother is a Cuban of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent and was born and raised in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Dutch, English, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent. He has two older sisters, Kristin and Megan, and two younger brothers, Devon and Brandon. During his early childhood, his family lived in Bristol, New York where he attended Bloomfield Central Schools. The family moved to Florida when Ryan was 12 so his father could coach swimming. Lochte only began taking swimming seriously when he was in junior high school. His father said, "I would send him to go shower when he was messing around. He spent more time in the showers than he did in the pool." At 14 years old, his loss at the Junior Olympics changed his attitude. He later commented: "I suddenly said, 'I'm sick of losing'. After that I trained hard and I never lost there again."

College career

Lochte attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and graduated in 2007, majoring in

sport management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

. As a member of the Florida Gators swimming and diving team, he swam for coach Gregg Troy in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) competition from 2004 to 2007. At Florida, Lochte was the NCAA Swimmer of the Year twice, a seven-time NCAA champion, a seven-time SEC champion, and a 24-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. At the 2006 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, during his senior year, Lochte won national titles in all three of his individual events, setting U.S. Open and American records in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke. He also broke Tom Dolan's nearly decade-old NCAA record in the 400-yard individual medley.

International career

2004–2005

Lochte qualified for his first Olympics after finishing second to

in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. He also qualified for the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team after finishing fourth in the 200-meter freestyle final. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, Greece, Lochte swam with Phelps, Klete Keller, and Peter Vanderkaay to upset the Australian team and capture the gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. It was the first loss for the Australian team in six years. He also narrowly edged out George Bovell and László Cseh in the 200-meter individual medley to win the silver medal behind Phelps. Later that year, at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis, Lochte won the silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley and the bronze in the 200-meter freestyle. He also won the gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Chad Carvin, Dan Ketchum, and Justin Mortimer. At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Lochte won the bronze medals in both the 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley. In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Lochte teamed with Phelps, Vanderkaay, and Keller to win gold ahead of Canada and Australia.

2006–2007

At the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships in Shanghai, held just two weeks after the 2006 NCAA Championships, Lochte won three individual titles, one silver, and one bronze. He won the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter backstroke, setting new world records in both events. He also set another world record in the 100-meter backstroke in the opening leg of the 4×100-meter medley relay, becoming the first man to complete the distance in under 50 seconds. He won his third gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley, setting a new championship record. At the

2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...

in Melbourne, Australia, Lochte won his first individual gold medal at a long course world championships in the 200-meter backstroke against compatriot

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimming (sport), swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic Games, Oly ...

, breaking Peirsol's world record and his seven-year win streak in the event. This was Lochte's first world record in a long course event. A little more than 90 minutes later, Lochte went on to set a world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Phelps, Keller and Vanderkaay. He also won silver medals in the 100-meter backstroke, and 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley, making his medal total for the meet second only to Phelps. Within a week of the world championships, Lochte competed in the annual Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool where he again beat Peirsol. In the 100-meter backstroke, he broke Peirsol's other seven-year winning streak in the shorter of the backstroke races, edging out Peirsol by 0.06 seconds.

2008 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

At the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Lochte competed in six individual events and qualified to swim in three individual events at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Also, with his third-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle, Lochte was ensured a spot on the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In his first event, Lochte finished second to Phelps in the 400-meter individual medley. Both Lochte and Phelps finished below Phelps' previous world record in the event. In his second event, the 200-meter freestyle, Lochte finished in third place behind Phelps and Vanderkaay. Less than 30 minutes after the 200-meter freestyle final, Lochte finished in third place behind

and Matt Grevers in the 100-meter backstroke final. The next day, Lochte competed in the 100-meter freestyle but withdrew after the semifinals. Two days later, in the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte finished in second place behind Peirsol, who equalled Lochte's world record. Less than 30 minutes after the 200-meter backstroke final, Lochte finished second to Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley.

Olympics

In his first event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lochte won the bronze medal in the 400-meter individual medley behind Phelps and Cseh. His time of 4:08.09 was two seconds slower than the time he swam in Omaha. In his second event, Lochte swam the second leg of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. With Phelps, Ricky Berens, and Vanderkaay, he won his first gold medal and set his first world record as the American team finished first with a time of 6:58.56. The Americans were the first team to break the seven-minute mark in the relay, and broke the previous record, set in Melbourne, Australia, by more than four and a half seconds. In his third event, the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte won his first individual gold medal and set the world record, beating defending champion Peirsol. Twenty-seven minutes after the final of the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte went on to win the bronze in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing behind Phelps and Cseh.

2009 World Championships

At the 2009 National Championships, the selection meet for the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994 World Aq ...

, Lochte won individual titles in the 200 and 400-meter individual medley. Lochte also qualified to swim in the 4×100 and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In the 200-meter backstroke final, Lochte placed second behind

, and lost his world record he set in Beijing when Peirsol recorded a time of 1:53.08. In his first event at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Lochte swam the second leg of the men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay in a time of 47.03. He earned a gold medal in the event along with Phelps, Matt Grevers, and Nathan Adrian. The final time of 3:09.21 was a championship record and just ahead of Russia (3:09.52) and France (3:09.89). With Phelps not competing in the 200 or 400-meter individual medley at these championships, Lochte won the gold in both events. In the 200-meter individual medley, Lochte broke Phelps' world record of 1:54.23 with a time of 1:54.10. In the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte won the bronze medal, finishing behind Peirsol and Ryosuke Irie of Japan. In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay final, Lochte swam the anchor leg in 1:44.46. Combined with Phelps, Berens, and David Walters, Lochte won the gold medal and his team broke the previous world record by one-hundredth of a second with a time of 6:58.55.

2010

At the 2010 National Championships, the selection meet for the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming ...

, Lochte won individual titles in the 200-meter backstroke, 200-meter individual medley, and the 400-meter individual medley. He also placed second in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle. Lochte's win in the 200-meter individual medley was the first time he defeated Phelps in a major national or international meet. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California, Lochte won a total of six gold medals. His wins included the 200-meter backstroke, 200-meter freestyle, 200 and 400-meter individual medleys, and 4×100 and 4×200-meter freestyle relays. At the

2010 FINA Short Course World Championships The 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 15–19 December 2010. This swimming-only championships took place in the Dubai Sports Complex; all events were swum in a 25-meter ( short-course) ...

in Dubai, Lochte became the first individual in history to win seven medals at the Short Course Worlds and was the only person to set a world record individually since body-length swimsuits were banned. In Dubai, Lochte won gold in the 200-meter backstroke, 200-meter freestyle, all individual medleys (100, 200, 400), and 4×100-meter medley relay. He also won silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Lochte's world records in Dubai came on consecutive days, first in the 400-meter individual medley, then in the 200-meter individual medley. Both world records were broken by considerable margins. At year's end, Lochte was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by ''

Swimming World Magazine } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. He was also named FINA male swimmer of the year for 2010 by ''FINA Aquatics World Magazine''. 2010 saw Lochte win a total of 13 international medals, 12 of them gold.

2011 World Championships

At the

, Lochte won a total of six medals, five golds and one bronze. Lochte won his first medal, a bronze, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for his contributions in the heats. In the heats, Lochte recorded a time of 48.28, off from the 47.98 he recorded last year in Irvine. In his second event, the 200-meter freestyle, Lochte won the gold with a time of 1:44.44, finishing ahead of

who recorded a time of 1:44.79. It was Lochte's first gold in the event in the long course World Championships. Lochte won the 200-meter individual medley event in a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

time of 1:54.00, finishing ahead of Michael Phelps time of 1:54.16. In the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte dominated the competition with a time of 1:52.96, over a second ahead of second-place finisher Ryosuke Irie. Shortly after completing the 200-meter backstroke, Lochte competed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, and Ricky Berens. Swimming the anchor leg in 1:44.56, Lochte was able to make up a deficit from France for the win. The final time for the relay was 7:02.67. In his last event, the 400-meter individual medley, Lochte continued his dominance with a win in a time of 4:07.13. His closest competitor, Tyler Clary, finished in 4:11.17, over four seconds behind. Lochte said he was pleased with his performance at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships but feels that he can improve his times before the 2012 Olympics. "Getting five gold medals is definitely great, but the times that I went, I know I could go a lot faster," he said. "There are a lot of places in my races that I messed up on that I could have changed and gone faster, but I guess I have a whole year to make sure I have those perfect swims." At year's end, Lochte was named the World Swimmer of the Year and American Swimmer of the Year by ''

'', and defended his titles from 2010. He was also named FINA male swimmer of the year for 2011 by ''FINA Aquatics World Magazine'' and also defended this title.

2012 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Lochte qualified for the Olympic team by finishing first in the 200-meter backstroke and 400-meter individual medley, and second in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Lochte also narrowly missed a spot competing in the individual 100-meter butterfly by finishing third.

Olympics

At the Olympics in London, Lochte won his first gold medal of the games in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:05.18. Commenting on his first medal of the 2012 Olympics and head-to-head competition with fellow American and world record holder,

, Lochte acknowledged Phelps' greatness while positioning himself as "the best today." Lochte won a silver medal with the U.S. 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, losing out to the French team with a 47.74 split, a full second slower than the French finishing swimmer Yannick Agnel and six tenths of a second slower than teammate Phelps. Lochte placed fourth in the 200-meter freestyle race. He followed that performance, however, by winning gold with the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle team. Lochte swam the first split and provided the U.S. team a commanding lead, which it never relinquished. On the sixth night of the Games, Lochte swam his last two finals, with only 30 minutes in between. First, he won the bronze medal in the 200m backstroke, finishing behind compatriot Tyler Clary and Japan's Ryosuke Irie. His time of 1.53.94 tied the time he swam four years ago when he won the gold medal at the 2008 Games, which was then a world record. Half an hour later, Lochte took on Phelps in the 200m individual medley. He won a silver medal behind Phelps in what was thought at the time to be the last head-to-head race of their careers, as Phelps retired after the Games. This was the third consecutive Olympics in which Lochte won a medal in the 200m individual medley. His five medals brought his total to 11 Olympic medals, tied for second among male swimmers with compatriots

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

and

Matt Biondi Matthew Nicholas Biondi (born October 8, 1965) is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Oly ...

, behind only Phelps. His seven individual Olympic medals are the second-most in men's Olympic swimming, surpassing Zoltán Halmay and Mark Spitz, who won six. Lochte has announced he intends to continue swimming through the

in Rio de Janeiro. He is also considering exploring new events.

2013 World Championships

In his first event at the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Nathan Adrian, Anthony Ervin, and Jimmy Feigen in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, with the team finishing behind France. Swimming the second leg, Lochte recorded a split of 47.80, and the team finished with a final time of 3:11.44. In his first individual event, the 200-meter freestyle, Lochte was unsuccessful in defending his title and placed fourth in the final with a time of 1:45.64. Lochte won his first individual medal of the competition, a gold, by defending his title in the 200-meter individual medley, recording a time of 1:54.98. The day following his 200 medley gold, Lochte also defended his title in the 200-meter backstroke, recording a time of 1:53.79 in the final. On the same day of winning the 200-meter backstroke (and swimming in the 100-meter butterfly semifinals where he set a personal best and qualified for the final), Lochte combined with Conor Dwyer, Charlie Houchin, and Ricky Berens, to win the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Swimming the second leg, Lochte recorded a split of 1:44.98, and the team finished with a final time of 7:01.72. In winning the 4×200 relay, Lochte became the first swimmer to win 5 consecutive gold medals at the World Championships in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay (while also being the first swimmer, along with compatriot Michael Phelps, to win the 4×200-meter freestyle relay Olympic Gold Medal on 3 successive occasions). The next day, Lochte competed in the 100-meter butterfly and finished 6th in the final with a time of 51.58, just off his semifinal time of 51.48.

2015 World Championships

Lochte competed in his sixth

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

in 2015. He made history upon his win in the 200-meter individual medley by becoming the only person other than

Grant Hackett Grant George Hackett Order of Australia, OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle swimming, freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in ...

to successfully win an event in four consecutive world championships. However, he finished a disappointing fourth in the 200-meter freestyle in 1:45.83, just off the podium. In addition, Lochte also won three relay medals. Lochte led off the 4×200-meter freestyle relay in 1:45.71, but the US team could not hold on as Great Britain pulled off a great upset and beat the US team 7:04.33 to 7:04.75. Alongside Nathan Adrian, Simone Manuel, and Missy Franklin, he was also part of the winning and world record-breaking 4×100-meter mixed freestyle relay. Lochte also anchored the prelim team for the 4×100-meter medley relay and received a gold medal for his efforts since the finals team won.

2016 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Rio Olympics, Lochte finished third in the 400-meter individual medley, just missing out on an Olympic berth. In the 200-meter freestyle, he missed his second chance at making the team in an individual event by placing fourth; nonetheless, he earned a relay spot in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Lochte finally qualified for an individual event by finishing second in the 200-meter individual medley behind Phelps.

Olympics

Lochte's first event in Rio was the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, where he swam both the morning heats and the finals. In the finals, Lochte swam the third leg after Conor Dwyer and Townley Haas. After Lochte's leg, the U.S. had a commanding lead. Phelps anchored the relay to touch the wall first at 7:00.66. This brought Lochte's Olympic medal count up to 12 total, making him the second most decorated male Olympic swimmer of all time, second only to Phelps. Lochte finished 5th in the 200-meter individual medley. This was his 4th consecutive final in the event, and the first time he did not win a medal.

Lochtegate

On the morning of August 14, 2016, Lochte and Jimmy Feigen claimed that they and teammates Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were robbed in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil, during the

after men forced them out of their taxi at gunpoint in the early morning hours. Lochte also alleged that a gun had been put up against his head. A police report stated that one or more of the athletes had vandalized the gas station bathroom and damaged a sign on the premises, though investigative reporters found that the athletes had damaged the sign but had neither entered the bathroom nor damaged items in the bathroom. Lochte later stated in an interview that he had been drunk and that he "over-exaggerated that story". However, his amended story raised concerns about the facts, and a witness who also translated between the security guards and the athletes claimed that the swimmers had stopped to use the fuel station's bathroom, damaged the sign on the premises, and that he stepped in when it was obvious that events could get out of control. He noted that all sides understood that the money was being paid to cover the damage done, but also that Lochte was drunk or "very altered" at the time of the incident. In August 2016, Lochte was charged with providing a false claim of a robbery during the 2016 Olympic Games, and if convicted could be jailed up to 18 months. The charges were later dismissed by a court, which stated that Lochte's actions "did not rise to the level of filing a false crime report." On August 30, 2016, when appearing on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', he said that he was unsure how he would classify the incident, stating, "I don't know if I would consider it as a robbery, or extortion, or us just paying up for the poster being ripped." Investigative reporting by ''USA Today'', which reviewed the security camera tapes, showed that Lochte and the other swimmers did not enter the bathroom that they were accused of vandalizing, and that the items purportedly damaged inside the bathroom were neither damaged nor recently replaced. Lochte apologized for the gas station dispute. In the aftermath of the incident, USA Swimming suspended Lochte from domestic and international competitions for 10 months. Lochte was also dropped by all four of his major sponsors. However, by January 2017, TYR announced an apparel deal with Lochte.

2018 suspension

On July 23, 2018, the

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

(USADA) imposed a 14-month suspension from competition on Lochte because, on May 24 of that year, he received a 'prohibited intravenous infusion.' "I have never taken a prohibitive 'sic''substance," Lochte told the media, "I have never attempted to gain any advantage by putting anything illegal in my body...I may be on the sideline from competition, but I'll continue to train every day...I want nothing more than to earn the privilege to swim for my country in my fifth

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

." On May 24, 2018, the same day he had received the infusion, Lochte had posted a picture - since deleted - on Instagram "showing him receiving an intravenous injection of what he says were 'vitamins'," even though the USADA bans "intravenous infusions of permitted substances at volumes greater than in a 12-hour period without a special 'Therapeutic Use Exemption'," '' Vox'' reported.

2021

On June 17, 2021, the fifth day of competition at the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials, Lochte swam a 1:58.48 in the morning prelims of the 200-meter individual medley, ranking second and qualifying for the semifinals."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.Anderson, Jared (June 17, 2021)
"2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II: Day 5 Prelims Live Recap"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved June 17, 2021. In the evening semifinals, he swam a 1:58.65 ranking sixth and qualifying for the final."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Individual Medley Semifinals Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.Sutherland, James (June 17, 2021)
"2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II: Day 5 Finals Live Recap"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved June 17, 2021.ESPN News Services (June 17, 2021)
"Caeleb Dressel headed to Tokyo Olympics; Ryan Lochte advances to 200 individual medley final"

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Retrieved June 17, 2021. In the final, Lochte finished seventh with a time of 1:59.67 and not qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in the event."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Individual Medley Final Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. June 18, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.Sutherland, James (June 18, 2021)
"2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II: Day 6 Finals Live Recap"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved June 18, 2021. In Michael Andrew's post-win interview for the 200-meter individual medley final, Lochte joined Andrew and called him family along with the swimming community. Lochte also said missing out on the Olympic Team was not the end of the road for him.

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

(June 18, 2021)
"Andrew flirts with world record; Lochte misses out on Olympics in 200 IM final , NBC Sports"

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Retrieved June 19, 2021. A few days after the end of the US Olympic Trials, Lochte confirmed he was still committed to the sport of swimming, both in terms of competing and growing the sport, and he was not retiring.Campione, Katie (June 24, 2021)
"Ryan Lochte Speaks Out After Not Qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics: 'I'm Not Retiring'"
''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. Retrieved September 14, 2021.Anderson, Jared (June 25, 2021)
"Video: Ryan Lochte Re-Affirms Commitment To Continue Swimming"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved June 25, 2021. He added that one of his swimming pursuits moving forward included teaching youth how to swim.

Television appearances and pop culture fame

Magazines

Before the

, ''Fortune'' magazine estimated that Lochte earned $2.3 million from endorsement deals with

Speedo Speedo International Limited is an Australian-British distributor of Swimsuit, swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England. Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1914 by Alexander MacRae, a Scottish emigrant, the company is n ...

Mutual of Omaha Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company is an American Fortune 500 mutual insurance and financial services company based in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1909 as Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association, Mutual of Omaha is a financial organization o ...

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/cons ...

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

, and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. Lochte has also appeared in commercials for the Nissan Altima and been featured on the covers of ''Vogue'', ''Time'', ''Men's Health'', and ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenner of ...

''.

Television

Comedian

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...

parodied Lochte in the 2012 season premiere of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', after which Lochte said he would be open to doing a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

on the show. Lochte appeared as an exaggerated version of himself in the ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' episode " Stride of Pride", which aired October 18, 2012. He also had a guest appearance on '' 90210'' in late 2012. '' What Would Ryan Lochte Do?'' began airing April 21, 2013, on E! and was cancelled after only one season, five weeks later. Lochte's public persona and character have inspired a series of unflattering

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

s. On August 30, 2016, Lochte was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 23 of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. He was partnered with professional dancer Cheryl Burke. Lochte and Burke were eliminated on Week 8 of competition, finishing in 7th place. In 2017, Lochte played a supporting role in '' Little Something for Your Birthday''. On January 13, 2019, the reality game show ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' announced that Lochte would be a houseguest in the second American season of the show. He finished in 10th place after 13 days. On the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' season 17 episode "Griffin Winter Games",

Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin Sr. ( né Justin Peter Griffin) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, a ...

meets Lochte at a party for the athletes of the Korean winter Olympics where he asks him, "wait, aren't you a summer sport guy?" As Lochte offers him a beer, a narrator imitating

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

refers to him as an 'international bozo' and notes that Peter partied with him all night. On September 22, 2019, Lochte appeared on ''

Celebrity Family Feud ''Celebrity Family Feud'' is a broadcast network spin-off (media), spin-off of the broadcast syndication, syndicated American game show ''Family Feud''. Like the primetime ''All-Star Specials'' aired during the late 1970s and early 1980s by the s ...

'' along with his wife Kayla. Lochte won the family be family round, and between Kayla and himself they scored over 200 points in the final round to win the game. On November 13, 2019, Ryan appeared on an episode of "Back in the Game" with

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

. The series focuses on Rodriguez mentoring athletes and entertainers who have fallen on hard times. In the episode Alex helps Lochte get his finances back on track. On January 12, 2023, Ryan appeared on the show ''The Traitors''. He finished in 14th place after being "murdered" by the traitors in episode 5.

Radio

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

named Lochte as their "platonic ideal of bro-dom".

Awards

Personal life

Trademark application

On August 1, 2012, Lochte filed an application to

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

his personal

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, "Jeah", with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He abandoned the application before it was finalized.

Sponsorships

In January 2017, active-wear maker TYR Sport, Inc. signed Lochte to his first major

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

swimming sponsorship deal since the Lochtegate scandal. In November 2019, Lochte revealed to

on an episode of CNBC's '' Back In The Game'' that he once made "well over $1 million" a year and also earned $75,000 from a single sponsor. However, he also stated to Rodriguez that his scandalswhich resulted in his suspension and losing his sponsorsand lavish spending resulted in him suffering significant financial losses. He was forced to sell his home and now resides in a apartment. He also estimated that he had only about $20,000 in savings.

Protests

In July 2021, Lochte spoke about his stance not supporting protests at athletic events in advance of the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

.Altus, Kristen (July 23, 2021)
"Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte disagrees with athletes who 'disgrace' American flag on the podium"
''

Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios ...

''. Retrieved July 24, 2021. This reiterated sentiments Lochte shared concerning the safety and security of individuals after protesters targeting him stormed the stage during one of his performances on the television show ''

'' in September 2016."Ryan Lochte stage stormed by protesters on Dancing with the Stars"
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

''. September 13, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2012.Gajanan, Mahita (September 14, 2016)
"Ryan Lochte Says Dancing With the Stars Team Is His 'New Family' After Protest"
''

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. Retrieved July 24, 2021.

Marriage and fatherhood

During the

, Lochte revealed that he was in a relationship with Playboy Playmate of the Month for July 2015 Kayla Rae Reid, whom he first got in touch with via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. They became engaged in October 2016, and were married in an at-home civil ceremony in January 2018. The couple have three children together.

Career best times

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course meters (25 m pool)

World Records

Long course (50 m pool)

: with

, Klete Keller and Peter Vanderkaay : with

, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay : with

, Ricky Berens and David Walters : with Nathan Adrian,

Simone Manuel ] Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in Freestyle swimming, freestyle events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold ...

and Missy Franklin

Short course (25 m pool)

: with Bryan Lundquist, Nathan Adrian and Doug Van Wie

References

External links

* * * * * * * * *
Ryan Lochte
on

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lochte, Ryan 1984 births Living people American male backstroke swimmers American male freestyle swimmers American male medley swimmers American people of Basque descent American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American people of German descent American sportspeople of Cuban descent American sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in swimming Florida Gators men's swimmers Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Participants in American reality television series People from Canandaigua, New York People from Port Orange, Florida Sportspeople from Volusia County, Florida Sportspeople from Rochester, New York Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming University of Florida alumni Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming 21st-century American sportsmen Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year winners

Early life

College career

International career

2004–2005

2006–2007

2008 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

Olympics

2009 World Championships

2010

2011 World Championships

2012 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

Olympics

2013 World Championships

2015 World Championships

2016 Summer Olympics

Olympic Trials

Olympics

Lochtegate

2018 suspension

2021

Television appearances and pop culture fame

Magazines

Television

Radio

Awards

Personal life

Trademark application

Sponsorships

Protests

Marriage and fatherhood

Career best times

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course meters (25 m pool)

World Records

Long course (50 m pool)

Short course (25 m pool)

See also

References

External links