Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte during the 2008 Olympic Trials
Personal information
Full name	Ryan Steven Lochte
Nickname	The Lochtenator
Nationality	United States
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, freestyle, medley
Club	Daytona Beach Speed Swimming
College team	Florida Gators
Medal record Men's swimming Representing the United States Olympic Games 2004 Athens 4×200 m freestyle 2008 Beijing 200 m backstroke 2008 Beijing 4×200 m freestyle 2004 Athens 200 m medley 2008 Beijing 200 m medley 2008 Beijing 400 m medley World Championships (LC) 2005 Montreal 4×200 m freestyle 2007 Melbourne 200 m backstroke 2007 Melbourne 4×200 m freestyle 2009 Rome 200 m medley 2009 Rome 400 m medley 2009 Rome 4x100 m freestyle 2009 Rome 4x200 m freestyle 2007 Melbourne 100 m backstroke 2007 Melbourne 200 m medley 2007 Melbourne 400 m medley 2005 Montreal 200 m backstroke 2005 Montreal 200 m medley 2009 Rome 200 m backstroke World Championships (SC) 2004 Indianapolis 4×200 m freestyle 2006 Shanghai 200 m backstroke 2006 Shanghai 200 m medley 2006 Shanghai 400 m medley 2008 Manchester 100 m medley 2008 Manchester 200 m medley 2008 Manchester 400 m medley 2008 Manchester 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Indianapolis 200 m medley 2006 Shanghai 4×100 m medley 2008 Manchester 200 m backstroke 2008 Manchester 4×100 m medley 2004 Indianapolis 200 m freestyle 2006 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle 2006 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo 4×200 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships 2006 Victoria 4×200 m freestyle 2006 Victoria 100 m backstroke 2006 Victoria 200 m medley

Ryan Steven Lochte (born August 3, 1984) is an American swimmer. He is a multiple world record holder and Olympic gold medalist. He is a 2004 Olympic Champion in the 4×200 m freestyle, Olympic silver medalist in the 200 m individual medley and 2008 Olympics champion in the 200 m backstroke and the 4×200 m freestyle, and bronze medalist in the 400 m and 200 m individual medley.

Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle relay swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater.

He is a close rival and friends with Michael Phelps in the individual medley events and Aaron Peirsol in the backstroke races.

Personal life

Ryan Lochte was born in Canandaigua, New York. He attended Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida.

Lochte graduated from the University of Florida, and swam for the Florida Gators swimming & diving team in NCAA competition while he was an undergraduate. He currently lives and trains in Gainesville, Florida.

Lochte recently signed a contract with Ford Modeling Agency, and has modeled for Speedo and GQ Magazine.

Career

Collegiate career

At the 2006 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Lochte won individual titles in all three of his individual events, setting U.S. Open and American records in the 200 yard individual medley and the 200 yard backstroke. He broke Tom Dolan's nearly decade old NCAA record in the 400 yard individual medley. He set another U.S. Open and American record in the 100 yard backstroke leading off the 4×100 yard medley relay for the Florida Gators. This time was faster than the record in the 100 yard butterfly at the time. The record in the 100 yard fly has since been lowered under Lochte's backstroke record.

Lochte won swimmer of the meet for his senior year.

Other accomplishments in 2006 include breaking the 11-year-old SEC record in the 100 butterfly previously held by John Hargis. After finishing his fourth year of collegiate eligibility with the Gators, he was sponsored by Speedo, thus turning professional.

International career

2004-2005

Lochte qualified for his first Olympics after finishing second to Phelps in the 200 m individual medley at the US trials in 2004. He also qualified for the 4×200 m freestyle relay team. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lochte swam with Phelps, Klete Keller and Peter Vanderkaay to upset the Australian team and capture the gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. He also narrowly edged out George Bovell and Laszlo Cseh in the 200 m 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 m individual medley and the bronze in the 200 m freestyle. He also won the gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.

At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Lochte won the bronze medals in both the 200 m backstroke and 200 m individual medley, and was a part of the 4×200 m freestyle relay team which set an American record and won the gold.

2006-2007

At the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships in Shanghai, held just two weeks after the 2006 NCAA Championships, Lochte won the world titles in the same events he won at the NCAA championships and set world records in the same events he for which he set American records. He won two individual events in the 200 m individual medley and the 200 m backstroke, setting new world records in both events. He also set another world record in the 100 m backstroke in the opening leg of the 4×100 m medley relay, becoming the first man to complete the distance in under 50 seconds. He won a third gold medal in the 400 m individual medley, setting a new American record. He was named as the male swimmer of the meet by FINA.

At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Lochte won his first individual gold medal at a long course world championship in the 200 m backstroke against American Aaron Peirsol, breaking Peirsol's world record and his seven-year winning streak in the event. This was Lochte's first world record in a long course event. Lochte went on to set a world record in the 4×200  freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Klete Keller, and Peter Vanderkaay. He also won silver medals in the 100 m backstroke, the 200 m IM, and the 400 m IM, making his medal total for the meet second to only 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 beat Peirsol's other seven-year winning streak in the shorter of the backstroke races, edging out Peirsol by .06 seconds.

2008 Summer Olympic Games

See also: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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2009 World Championships

See also: Swimming at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships

Lochte swam the second leg of the 4x100 m freestyle final at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and earned a gold medal when the US placed first in the final. For his second event, the 200 m individual medley, Lochte won the gold in a world record time of 1:54.10 to better Michael Phelps' record of 1:54.23. In the 200 m backstroke final, Lochte earned a bronze medal. Lochte swam in the final of the 4x200 m freestyle, which won gold and bettered the world record set last year. For his performance at Worlds, Lochte was awarded male athlete of the year at the 2009 Golden Goggles Awards.

Personal bests

Stroke	Distance	Time
Freestyle	100 m	48.16
Freestyle	200 m	1:45.61
Freestyle	400 m	3:49.25
Backstroke	100 m	53.37
Backstroke	200 m	1:53.94
Butterfly	100 m	52.84
Individual medley	200 m	1:54.10 WR
Individual medley	400 m	4:06.08

Key: WR = World record

External links

• USA Swimming athlete bio: Ryan Lochte

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists