Lochte’s reality show is getting a lot of ink, and at the Orlando Grand Prix he spoke very candidly about the impact the production is having on his training. It was more of a conversation Lochte would have with swimmers, coaches and the community rather than a soundbite on the red carpet in Hollywood. Swim fans may be critical of anything that pulls the 11-time Olympic medalist away from training for 8 weeks, but consider that this guy’s been logging thousands of miles in the pool since well before the 2004 Olympic Games. A break might do him good, even though filming the show isn’t a break. As Lochte states, he’s getting in four or more pool practices a week and heavy dryland training.
Lochte’s Orlando Grand Prix results as reported by SwimSwam last night:
Ryan Lochte came out on top for the first time in Orlando, finishing first in the men’s 200m IM. World Record Holder Lochte had a tough battle with Tyler Clary but was able to get the better of him during the last 100 finishing in 2:01.32 to Clary’s 2:02.91. Lochte’s Daytona Beach teammate Conor Dwyer finished third in 2:03.39.
Clary and Lochte faced off again later in the evening in the 200m backstroke. 2012 Olympic champion Tyler Clary defeated a close field to take the win in 1:57.85. Yannick Lebherz finished behind him in 1:59.31 followed by up-and-comer Ryan Murphy in 1:59.92. Lochte, not particularly focusing on the 200m backstroke during the grand prix meets this year finished far back in fifth with a time of 2:01.32.
I guess one advantage Lochte has is that enough Olympians have hung on or come back in their late 20’s and early 30’s by now that he can learn from their successes and failures. Coughlin feels that she overtrained, especially given her age, in the last year prior to ’12 Trials, trying to compensate for taking a lot of time off, but ended up overcompensating. Lochte doesn’t sound as burned out as Phelps, but he can talk to Phelps and see what worked/didn’t work for him, adjusting for being 5 years older in ’16 than Phelps was in ’12. I think he will also realize pretty quickly that reality television is not restful or a “break” but rather stressful and… Read more »
Lotche will also have to keep down his Phelpsian attitude, he will be a “old” guy on a field loaded with guys hitting their prime.. He will have to focus on less events if he wants to have any chance at OG
I don’t see people making these sorts of comments when Natalie Coughlin takes a year off or a swimmer takes a six-month break from the sport. This is the first serious break Ryan has taken since he started ascending in the sport as a teenager. Besides, we all saw what he did in Istanbul on something like six weeks of training. There are people in this sport who can switch it on when they need to, and Ryan is one of those people. It’s a little too early to make comments about how the sky is falling.
Does anybody else see the parallel to Phelps? I mean, isn’t this almost exactly what happened to him after Beijing? Stepped back a little bit, took some time away to be “disctracted” (aka, enjoy his celebrity before he’s too old to), rethink his event lineups, want to do more sprints…I mean, his London results weren’t perfect, but they were pretty darn good. I bet he wouldn’t take back the way the last 4 years went.
Except his turns and finish were horrible in the 200 fly. We all know he wants that one back. I don’t feel sorry for him. He doesn’t have to deal with the Chinese Government as I do.
Give the guy a break. We know now he’s short sighted, he couldn’t judge those walls well. What’s your excuse for bronze in 200 free?
But Sung did not get bronze on 200 free.. your argument is invalid!
Liliana, your ladyboner for Phelps is showing again. Put it away before you scare the kids.
I think Ryan’s biggest threat to IM supremacy is swimming in his own pool. Conor Dwyer is a backstroke away from seriously challenging him in the IMs. I think his trajectory is set to have a really big Rio Olympics.
Maybe Kosuke hagino Josh??
I think had we seen Dwyer swim the 400 IM at Trials, he would have been able to go 4:10 and maybe even a 4:09. His time at Guadalajara converted to a 4:13 low, and he was undoubtedly a much better swimmer by the time Trials came around.
Since the 400 free and 400 IM are on separate days this year, he can take a shot at both. He’s only 24 years old now and will only be 27 at Rio. Fortunately, the stroke he has to improve is the one that the Gator team seems to do best at.
I was talking more in a domestic sense, Rafael, but I do think Dwyer can challenge on the World… Read more »
Josh, won´t Lotche drop the 400 IM also?
Does Dwyer have the raw speed needed for the 200IM?
Did you see the 1500? I was crying cause the government had already robbed half my gold.
That was six weeks not too many months after the Olympics. That’s not the same as any six weeks, because he was still somewhat in shape. And it was short course.
I think this show may actually be good for Ryan in the long run. He needs a mental break. I think in London his problem was that even though he was in a perfect physical shape, he was not 100% mentally. He allowed Clary and Phelps to get in his head for the 200back-200IM double.
If he wants to keep his momentum going into this Olympic cycle, Lochte needs to make sure that he is not vulnerable mentally. I think this reality show will allow him to puts the regrets of last year to rest. You cannot continue swimming into your 30s if you are constantly thinking “what else I could be doing?”, “what I am missing outside the… Read more »
But mental stress from doing the show, training somewhat, meets, appearances, etc., doesn’t seem very rejuvenating. The stuff that’s gone on outside of the pool leading up to the Olympics and through today would be enough to make a normal person want to crawl into a hole. Mental stress can be worse than physical stress.
It’s not so what the “what” in this equation that concerns me as the “who” (as in who is involved) and the “how” (as in how they’re going about it).
Yeah, sprinters seem to have an easier time hanging on as they get older.
Give the guy a break! There are other aspects to life than just swimming to explore! Some down time after the Olympics is not such a bad thing… It will help him be rejuvenated when the time comes to buckle down…The first year of the quadrenium is not that important!
Dialing it back physically for a couple months could actually help in the medium-long run and let the body heal up from chronic overuse a bit. I’m actually kind of reminded of Jenny Thompson shoehorning training around medical residency the first year of her comeback- not as much pool time, but still very good results come the important meets. Granted JT was more of a sprinter who could move up to a 200 free when needed than a middle distance person, but I think Lochte will still be very competitive come this summer.
Taking a break over 3 years out with the base he has could serve him well. I’d be more worried about him burning out and breaking down then getting out of shape. He is still staying fit and in the pool which is more than many did who took breaks from swimming.
Ryan and Coach Troy will do what it takes going into Rio. They have never stressed about in season meets and they aren’t going to do it now. I all but guarantee he will walk away with multiple medals from worlds this summer.
200 Back and 200IM I Would bet.
Plus the 3 relays… even thinking if he does not quality on the 100 individual of being top 6 on 100 free he should not go on 4×100 and 4×100 medley.. But 4×100 US will need someone to step on Phelps spot.. Australia will probably not repeat their mistakes and France and Russia will fight hard also..
Ever heard of Tom shields? Or possibly Conger/Murphy.
In four years, Conger, Murphy, and Shields will more than likely
be finaling. Not to mention the current 16-17 year olds (Gonray,
Carter, Bentz)
Hey, maybe.