Lochte << lahk tee >>, Ryan (1984-…), was a champion American swimmer. Lochte won 12 Olympic medals—6 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze. He excelled in the individual medley and backstroke events but also won medals in freestyle.
At the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Lochte won a gold medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team and a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley. At the 2008 games in Beijing, China, he won gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle relay and the 200-meter backstroke. He also won bronze medals in the 200-meter individual medley and the 400-meter individual medley. Lochte won five medals at the 2012 Olympics in London, England. He won a gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley, a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley, and a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke. He also won a gold medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team and a silver medal as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay team. At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Lochte won a gold medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team.
Lochte also enjoyed success at the FINA World Championships. FINA, the organization governing international competitive swimming, is now called World Aquatics. From 2005 to 2015, Lochte won 18 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals at the championships.
Lochte’s career was set back by two suspensions. The first suspension, from September 2016 to June 2017, was set by USA Swimming for Lochte’s participation in a vandalism incident while he was competing in the Olympics in Brazil. The second suspension, handed down by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, was a penalty from May 2018 to July 2019 for a technical violation, receiving an unapproved intravenous injection of vitamins.
Ryan Steven Lochte was born in Canandaigua, New York, on Aug. 3, 1984. He moved with his family to Florida, where his father took a job as a swimming coach. Lochte graduated from the University of Florida in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. While at the university, he won seven National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimming championships.
