IV photo nets ban for Lochte

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ryan Lochte posted a photo for the world to see, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency noticed.

It got him suspended — again.

The longtime U.S. swimming star has been banned from competition until July 2019, which means the 12-time Olympic medalist cannot compete as planned in the national championships that start this week in California. Lochte also will be ineligible for other top meets, including the Pan Pacific Championships later this year and next year’s world championships.

He did not take a banned substance. But he got an intravenous injection of vitamins in May — a method typically banned under anti-doping rules. The 14-month ban, retroactive to May 24 and announced Monday by USADA, is his second in less than two years after his 10-month suspension for his behavior during a drunken incident that created widespread scorn at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“A rule is a rule and I accept that there is a technical violation,” Lochte said. “I am hopeful that other athletes learn from my mistake.”

Lochte said he took the IV because both his wife and his son were ill, and he didn’t want to get sick as well. He said the IV contained mostly B-complex vitamins, products that he said could be purchased at any pharmacy.

But the issue was the amount — it exceeded 100 milliliters, and that’s the rule he broke.

“It’s crazy to think about,” Lochte said. “I was back in top shape, I’ve been training every day, and now this.”

Lochte’s violation essentially came to light when he posted the photo of him getting the IV on his social media accounts. That triggered the USADA investigation, one that Lochte “fully cooperated” with according to U.S. officials.

“Lochte received an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic,” the USADA announcement of the suspension said. Under most circumstances, athletes cannot receive IVs unless related to a hospitalization or when allowed

under the terms of a USADA-approved exemption — and Lochte fell into neither of those categories.

Suspensions for use of an IV are extremely rare: The USADA database shows only two other athletes being sanctioned for using such a method, one of them getting a six-month suspension and the other a 14-month ban. That same database shows that before Monday, no other U.S. swimmer in the last 10 years, for any reason including actual positive tests, had been suspended for more than one year by USADA.

This week could have been a significant step forward for Lochte, who was entered in four events at the U.S. championships at Irvine, Calif., and was preparing to compete in what would have been his biggest competition since the Rio Games. It was there that he and three other U.S. Olympic swimmers there

said they were robbed at gunpoint at a gas station, a story that quickly unraveled.

The investigation in Brazil is continuing, and Lochte said it’s “concerning” to him that a court there recently decided that he could still face prosecution for filing a false report.

Lochte was not only suspended 10 months for that but also forfeited $100,000 in Olympic medal bonus money and was banned from competing in last year’s national and world championships.

Now, he’s back in hot water. USADA agreed to start the 14-month clock on May 24, the day that he posted the photo that no longer can be found on his Instagram page. He has previously said that he wants to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though those hopes would seem to be in at least some doubt now.

Lochte spent much of his career portraying a party-boy image, while his wildly successful

exploits in the pool — 6 Olympic golds, 36 world championship gold medals, no fewer than 4 world records — were always overshadowed by 28-time Olympic medalist and 23-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

Lochte returned to competition last year, most notably winning the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Open. He also has become a father and a husband since Rio — he married former Playboy model Kayla Rae Reid in January, seven months after their son was born.

Lochte will turn 36 during the Tokyo Games. He won gold medals at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, and if he found a way to win another in Tokyo he would become the oldest Olympic swimming champion.

“I have goals that I want to accomplish in 2020,” Lochte said. “If anything this is going to add more fuel to my fire.”

Lochte