Olympic Gold Medalist Shares 'Hell And Back' Story, Hosts Kids Swim Clinic

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“You’re on the world’s biggest stage in sports, and you’re not swimming for yourself. You’re swimming for your country,” Ryan Lochte told Patch in an exclusive interview. “When I put on that American flag swim cap, I feel like I’m a superhero.”

The Olympian shared his expertise with about 20 children at the Life Time pool alongside his father and coach, Steve Lochte. Attendees held and took photos with Ryan Lochte’s 2016 Olympic gold medal from the 4 x 200 meters freestyle relay.

“I want these kids to feel the excitement that I had when I collected my gold medal,” Ryan Lochte said. “Everyone has a gift. They can do this. They just have to know how to work hard and do the dedication.”

The trip to central Maryland was a familiar one for the family.

Ryan Lochte’s sister, Megan “Peewee” Lochte, attended the nearby University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She competed on the UMBC swim team, where the small-but-mighty athlete flashed her “lion mentality” and “contagious” energy.

Above all, the family said swimming is supposed to be fun, not a stressor or a chore.

“You won’t make the Olympic team, I guarantee you you won’t, if you treat this like a job,” Ryan Lochte said. “Once I step in this pool, everything disappears. I’m one with the pool.”

Gold Medalist’s Tips For Young Swimmers

The tips helped 11-year-old Layla Hamdallah improve her breaststroke. She learned to breathe with her head facing down, not up, and to flex, not point, her feet during kicks. Layla will apply those techniques on the Life Time swim team, where she specializes in freestyle and backstroke.

“It was exciting. It kind of pushed me to be my best,” Layla said. “It was nice to get advice from someone who won Olympic medals.”

Ryan Lochte also advised gradually kicking harder when resurfacing from turning around at the wall. This conserves energy, as the first moments off the wall are the most powerful and don’t require the strongest kicks.

This technique helped Ryan Lochte break his own 2009 world record and defeat Maryland native Michael Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2011 World Championships. Ryan Lochte’s record of 1 minute, 54.00 seconds still stands.

“I knew I was going to break the world record. I just didn’t know when because I knew I did the training,” Ryan Lochte said, noting that he thought he could’ve gone even faster. “If you’re satisfied, you’re going to be stuck in that same position all the time. If you’re not satisfied, you’re going to keep wanting to get better, improve.”

Ryan Lochte further urged young athletes to eat healthy. He suggested avoiding carbohydrates one week before a major event and then eating lots of carbs three days before the meet. Nutritious snacks are also essential immediately after any competition to repair strained muscles.

Ryan Lochte learned this in college when a nutritionist had him eating 9,000 calories daily during peak training.

“I grew up on Skittles and Mountain Dew … Do not do that,” Ryan Lochte said. “Treat your body like it’s a racecar. You want the best gasoline in your body.”

Ryan Lochte also reminded kids of the mental health pressures of athletics.

“There’s so many kids, athletes that you see with mental health issues now because they put so much pressure on themselves,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

He told them not to chase celebrities but instead focus on being their best self.

“I have to be Katie Ledecky. I have to be Michael Phelps. I have to be Ryan Lochte. No, you don’t,” Ryan Lochte said.

Layla’s mother, Sanaz Sakiani, wants these lessons to stick with her daughter.

“I hope that she takes away from it a lot of life [advice] that Ryan gave her and applies it to whatever she does in the future,” Sakiani said. “You’re not always going to win, and that’s okay. You will learn from that.”

Growing After Rio Controversy

Controversy at the 2016 Rio Olympics taught Ryan Lochte to turn the page.

During those Brazil Games, Ryan Lochte claimed he and three other Team USA swimmers were pulled over in their taxi and robbed at gunpoint by men with police badges at a gas station.

Rio police instead alleged that the intoxicated athletes stopped at the gas station voluntarily, vandalized its bathroom and pulled a sign off the wall. Authorities said two security guards pointed guns at the swimmers before they left cash to repair the damages.

NBC visited the gas station days later and found no bathroom vandalism, only an advertisement pulled from the wall outside. USA Today reviewed security footage and saw that the swimmers never went near the restroom. The canvas poster that Ryan Lochte ripped was the only damage reported by the swimmers and a witness, USA Today said, confirming that the guards were off-duty state agents who had police badges.

“There was no break-in. There was a cardboard sign that fell off the back of a brick building at 4 o’clock in the morning,” Steve Lochte said, stating that his son “was portrayed wrongly” and used “as a pawn” to “direct the attention away” from crime during the Rio Games. “The truth is that it did happen. He was robbed. The only untruth was the gun was not pointed at his forehead. It was pointed to his chest, and it was videoed. And there was no damage to any bathroom.”

Ryan Lochte was charged with filing a false police report, but those charges were dismissed in 2021. The statute of limitations had passed and a judge ruled that prosecutors couldn’t prove their case, Ryan Lochte’s lawyer told USA Today.

“Ryan lived on the edge all his life. It woke him up,” Steve Lochte said. “He’s carried the Rio thing on his shoulders, and he won’t let it go because the media did such damage, but he’s used that to move forward. He’s used that to become a stronger person and maybe not live on the edge.”

Dad First, Swimmer Second

Outside the pool, Ryan Lochte became a husband and a father. That changed his mindset heading into the 2021 Olympic Trials, where he fell short of qualifying for the Tokyo Games.

Steve Lochte knew his son wouldn’t make it that day based on the unfocused gaze in his eyes. Ryan Lochte was “under world record pace in practice” and “was swimming faster than he ever had in his life,” his dad said. The only difference was Ryan Lochte was now a dedicated father and husband, and family occupied his mind that day.

“What stopped him was his responsibility and his No. 1 responsibility, and that wasn’t swimming anymore. That was family,” Steve Lochte said.

Ryan Lochte’s dad described him as the “father of the year” for his three children: 7-year-old Caiden, 5-year-old Liv and 1-year-old Georgia June.

“Ryan is the most caring and giving person or athlete that I have ever encountered. He would give you the shirt off his back without a question,” Steve Lochte said, explaining that his son is “sensitive in capital letters.” “He lives for his kids. They are his pride and joy.”

A car accident last November threatened Ryan Lochte’s active relationship with his children. The crash broke his femur and tore his knee.

“I fell into depression because I couldn’t pick up my kids and hold them,” Ryan Lochte said, adding that the realization brought him to tears. “I could not move. I was a vegetable because I needed rest.”

Will Lochte Compete Again?

Ryan Lochte is contemplating a return to professional swimming if he heals quickly. Watching this summer’s Paris Olympics reinvigorated his competitive spirit, but he won’t attempt a comeback if it’ll compromise his health and take him from his kids.

“I’ll give up all the gold medals, all the world records just so I could just see my boy smile,” Ryan Lochte said. “There’s so much more to life than just swimming.”

Regardless of his swimming future, Ryan Lochte plans to build “an empire that [he] can pass down to [his] children.” He plans to write a book and work on his shoe and apparel line.

Ryan Lochte is developing a sunscreen that’ll debut next summer. The organic lotion will be colored, making it fun for children and giving it a “Lochte flair.”

“My dad, he had skin cancer,” Ryan Lochte said. “Being in Florida, we’re in sun nonstop. So that’s dear to my heart.”

Ryan Lochte is also active in charity work, partnering with Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and drowning prevention nonprofit the Mac Crutchfield Foundation. He’s also a motivational speaker.

“My entire life, I’ve always wanted to help out other people,” Ryan Lochte said. “That’s just who I am.”

Coaching the next wave of swimmers is another passion project for Ryan Lochte. He’s currently on a 12-town tour offering swim lessons at Life Time gyms across the country.

“Relating to these kids, it’s easier just because I’m goofy, I’m a big kid, so they understand the things that I say,” Ryan Lochte said. “It’s not about us. It’s about the younger generation.”

Olympic Gold medalist Ryan Lochte held a kids swim clinic this weekend in Columbia. Watch the world record holder glide through the pool and share advice with the young athletes. pic.twitter.com/fW8aT0ek0D
— Jacob Baumgart (@jacobbaumgart) September 9, 2024

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