Lochte back in pack of 100 butterfly
Ryan Lochte finished fourth in the C final of the 100meter butterfly at the U.S. national championships at Stanford on Friday night.
The 12time Olympic medalist touched in 53.36 seconds — 1.21 seconds behind the winner.
Maxime Rooney won the A final in 51.09 and Jack Conger was second in 51.70. The preliminary results show Lochte in 18th place overall.
Conger and Lochte along with two other U.S. swimmers were involved in an incident at a gas station during the 2016 Rio Olympics that involved a false police report. Conger was suspended for four months by USA Swimming, while Lochte received the most severe penalty with a 10month ban.
Lochte failed to qualify for the 200 freestyle final Thursday, finishing 37th overall in the prelims. He’s competing this week for the first time since the recent end of a 14month suspension for receiving an infusion of vitamin B12 above the allowable limit.
In other finals, Emma Weyant won the 400 individual medley in 4:35.47, and Kelsi Dahlia took the 100 fly in 57.35 fresh off competing at worlds. Bobby Finke won the men’s 400 individual medley in 4:13.15.
Dana Vollmer, a seventime Olympic medalist, swam the final race of her career in the 100 fly prelims. She finished 32nd overall in 59.94 and failed to advance to the final.
The 31yearold mother of two had announced that the race would be her last. She remains the American record holder in her signature event.
Vollmer was 16 when she competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics. She missed the 2008 Olympic team, but returned in 2012 to win gold in the 100 fly and set a world record in London. She was the first woman to break 56 seconds in the event. In Rio, she earned bronze in the 100 fly.
After having her second child in July 2017, Vollmer returned to competition in November 2018, but wasn’t swimming fast enough to make the 2020 Olympics. She injured her shoulder in May and hadn’t competed again until Friday.