Lochte flops: Olympic career likely over after 7th in 200 IM
OMAHA, NEB. » Ryan Lochte’s Olympic career is apparently over.
He won’t get a chance for one more swim in Tokyo.
Looking to make it back to the Summer Games for a fifth time, the 36-year-old Lochte didn’t come close. He struggled to a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. swimming trials Friday night.
Michael Andrew — 14 years younger than Lochte — romped to victory by setting a blistering pace over the first three laps and holding on at the end to win in 1 minute, 55.44 seconds.
Chase Kalisz, who already had won the 400 individual medley at these trials, claimed another Olympic event by touching second in 1:56.97.
Lochte was lagging far behind. He only beat one other swimmer, settling for a time of 1:59.67 that really showed his age.
“This ain’t the end of the road,” Lochte vowed in a poolside interview with NBC. “There’s a lot more I want to accomplish in the sport of swimming, whether it’s in the pool or outside the pool.”
A 12-time Olympic medalist, Lochte was the last swimmer to climb out of the pool. He blew a kiss to the crowd and was greeted by a parade of swimmers who wanted to pay homage to his great career.
Kalisz waited at the edge of the pool to dole out a hug. Andrew did the same. Even Michael Phelps, Lochte’s longtime rival who retired after the 2016 Rio Games, came down the from the stands to embrace Lochte.
“He’s a legend in the water,” Andrew said. “He’s done some incredible things. To share the pool with him is always an honor.”
Lochte went over to greet his wife and two young children, a sign of his different life since he embarrassed himself at the Rio Games by lying about being robbed at gunpoint during a boisterous night on the town.
Proclaiming himself a changed man, Lochte arrived in Omaha saying he not only expected to make the team, he felt he was still capable of winning a medal in Tokyo. He went all in on the 200 IM — the only event where he had a realistic chance of qualifying — and made it through to the final.