Ryan Lochte reveals why he had no problems in coming second "a sh**load of times" to Michael Phelps

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Nov 13, 2024 04:12 GMT

Olympic champion Ryan Lochte opened up on his journey as an Olympic swimmer and his bond with archrival and swimming legend Michael Phelps. The American swimmer also talked about how much he loved swimming as a sport.

In a podcast titled 'Shut Up! Tell Me More with Pat Comiter', the former Olympic champion opened up about coming second to Michael Phelps in competitions. The 40-year-old iterated:

"Yeah, I mean while we had one of the biggest rivalry in sports, definitely in swimming, and we were light years ahead of everyone. Like in all our races that we raced against [each other], like it was us two, and five seconds later, it was everyone else." [9:26 onwards]

Lochte spoke about his experience competing with Michael Phelps and further shed light on his thoughts of losing to Phelps on multiple occasions and stated:

"But we set the tone for swimming, and no matter what, like, I don’t know how he felt, but for me, I was in his era, like the Michael Phelps era, and I came second like a ****load of times, but I never had problems with that, because swimming was not my job. It was just a sport that I liked to do. But I had fun doing it, that’s it.”

Ryan Lochte is the fifth most decorated Olympic swimmer of all time. Having made his debut at the Athens Olympics in 2004, the 40-year-old former swimmer won a total of 12 Olympic medals in his 12-year-long Olympic career, which includes 6 Olympic gold medals.

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Ryan Lochte on the unexpected help from Michael Phelps

Ryan Lochte on the unexpected help from Michael Phelps [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source : Getty]

Ryan Lochte has been one of the fiercest competitors of Michael Phelps for more than a decade. There have been several moments where Lochte gave Phelps a run for his money.

However, there came a time when Lochte was in trouble, and he received help from Phelps in the most unexpected way. In an interview to Insider magazine, Lochte talked about the time when Phelps willingly took up the role of a mentor. The former Olympian said:

"I know when he took a break from swimming, when he came back he was in the same boat. He was doing horrible, way off his best times. So I talked to him and he's like, 'You've just done so much work that your body is beat up. So when you taper, you're going to light it up.' "

Ryan Lochte is committed to the sport of swimming, though he retired from active competition after the US Olympic trials held in 2021. He aims to impart his experience to aspiring swimmers through his initiative, Legendary Academy. Lochte also organizes clinics [workshops] in different cities, where he offers his insights on various subjects related to competitive swimming.