Happy-go-lucky Ryan Lochte is reluctant to accept the mantle of being the US’ top swimmer, but the evidence is compelling that he is now the man to beat.
Lochte has stolen the headlines at the Shanghai world championships with four gold medals — pushing long-time US No. 1 Michael Phelps firmly into the shade. And he is not finished yet.
Asked whether he had now supplanted the 14-time Olympic champion as the leading light of the US team, Lochte, who beat his teammate and rival to gold in both the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, dodged the question.
Photo: AFP
However, it is one that refuses to go away as the 26-year-old continues a purple patch which also saw him grab six gold medals at last year’s world short-course championships.
The colorful Lochte, who is famously accident-prone, insists he is not getting carried away with his success, but admits his confidence is soaring after his impressive achievements in Shanghai.
“I have a lot of confidence, especially what happened last year, that was the big confidence boost and I’m just taking each swimming event at a time, each race at a time, each year at a time,” he said.
Lochte set the only world record to fall in Shanghai so far, in his 200m individual medley showdown with Phelps, and lowered his best time in the 200m backstroke, before hauling the Americans over the line in the 4x200m freestyle.
He also edged out Phelps in the 200m freestyle — prompting Phelps to admit he was “getting killed” by Lochte.
Lochte’s late-career surge can be traced back to the Beijing Olympics, when despite three gold medals he was unhappy with his performances, which were comprehensively eclipsed by Phelps’s unprecedented eight-title haul.
Since then, he has revamped his training and cut out junk food — and even chopped his signature long, curly hair.
“I used to have the long curls, but I guess it’s a new year, new look. That’s all I can really say,” Lochte said. “I’m always digging fashion so I’ve always got to represent the diamonds. I guess that’s just part of my personality.”
However, his championships were almost over before they started after a scooter crash last month in which he hurt his knee — the latest in a series of accidents.
Other mishaps include a foot fracture in another scooter accident before the 2007 worlds and a twisted ankle while chasing his dog before the 2008 Olympic trials. In 2009, he hurt his knee break-dancing and needed surgery.
Earlier in the championships, Phelps’s coach Bob Bowman said it was too soon to say whether Lochte was now the No. 1, adding: “We have to see the rest of the events in this meet.”
As the Shanghai worlds draw to a close, the evidence is hard to ignore. Lochte has been the star of the show.
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