Ryan Lochte Trivia: interesting facts about the swimmer!

Ryan Lochte is an American competitive swimmer, a 12-time Olympic medalist (six gold, three silver, three bronze), which ranks him second in swimming behind Michael Phelps.

Let’s see some fun facts about him!

1. Ryan Steven Lochte was born August 3, 1984 in Rochester, New York.

2. He is the son of Ileana “Ike” (née Aramburu) and Steven R. Lochte.

3. His mother is Cuban and was born and raised in Havana, while his father is of Dutch, English, and German descent.

4. He has two older sisters, Kristin and Megan, and two younger brothers, Devon and Brandon. During his early childhood, his family lived in Bristol, New York where he attended Bloomfield Central Schools.

5. The family moved to Florida when Ryan was 12 so his father could coach swimming.

6. Lochte was taught to swim at the age of five by both of his parents.

7. He was often kicked out of his father’s swimming classes for misbehaving, which often included pulling other children’s legs, blowing bubbles, and hiding at the other end of the pool.

8. Lochte only began taking swimming seriously when he was in junior high school.

9. At 14 years old, his loss at the Junior Olympics changed his attitude. He later commented: “I suddenly said, ‘I’m sick of losing’. After that I trained hard and I never lost there again.”

10. Lochte attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2007, majoring in sport management.

11. As a member of the Florida Gators swimming and diving team, he swam for coach Gregg Troy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 2004 to 2007.

12. At Florida, Lochte was the NCAA Swimmer of the Year twice, a seven-time NCAA champion, a seven-time SEC champion, and a 24-time All-American.

13. At the 2006 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, during his senior year, Lochte won national titles in all three of his individual events, setting U.S. Open and American records in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke.

14. He also broke Tom Dolan’s nearly decade-old NCAA record in the 400-yard individual medley.

15. His seven individual Olympic medals rank near the top in men’s swimming. As part of the American teams, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle (long course) and 4×100-meter freestyle (mixed) relay.

16. Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter individual medley (long and short course) and 400-meter individual medley (short course).

17. Lochte’s success has earned him SwimSwam’s Swammy Award for US Male Swimmer of the Year in 2013,[2] the World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice.

18. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year three times. He has won a total of 90 medals in major international competition, 54 gold, 22 silver, and 14 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan American, and Pan Pacific Championships.

19. Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle and butterfly swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater.

20. Lochte is also known for his dominance in the short course format (25-yard and 25-meter-long swimming pools).

21. Lochte swam the 100m individual medley in 50.71 seconds on December 15, 2012 at the FINA World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

22. At this same event, he is also credited with swimming the fastest 200m medley, leading him to finish in 1 minute 49.63 seconds.

23. In 2016, Lochte generated international controversy when he falsely claimed that he and three other American swimmers had been pulled over and robbed by armed robbers with police badges while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

24. Before the 2012 Summer Olympics, Fortune magazine estimated that Lochte earned $2.3 million from endorsement deals with Speedo, Mutual of Omaha, Gillette, Gatorade, Procter and Gamble, Ralph Lauren, Nissan, and AT&T.

25. Lochte has also appeared in commercials for the Nissan Altima and been featured on the covers of Vogue, Time, Men’s Health, and Men’s Journal.

26. National Public Radio named Lochte as their “platonic ideal of bro-dom”.

27. Comedian and talk show host Seth MacFarlane parodied Lochte in the 2012 season premiere of Saturday Night Live, after which Lochte said he would be open to doing a cameo appearance on the show.

28. Lochte appeared as an exaggerated version of himself in the 30 Rock episode “Stride of Pride,” which aired October 18, 2012. He also had a guest appearance on 90210 in late 2012.

29. What Would Ryan Lochte Do? began airing April 21, 2013, on E! and was cancelled after only one season, five weeks later.

30. Lochte’s public persona and character have inspired a series of unflattering internet memes.

31. On August 30, 2016, Lochte was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Cheryl Burke.

32. Lochte and Burke were eliminated on Week 8 of competition, finishing in 7th place.

33. He signed on to play a supporting role in Little Something for Your Birthday.

34. Despite rumors in the Australian press linking Lochte with Australian swimmer Blair Evans, Lochte’s mother, Ileana, confirmed to Us Weekly in a July 28, 2012, interview that her son was “too busy” to be in a relationship.

35. On August 1, 2012, Lochte filed an application to trademark his personal catchphrase, “Jeah”, with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He abandoned the application before it was finalized.

36. Lochte is good friends with longtime teammates Conor Dwyer and Michael Phelps.

37. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Lochte revealed that he was in a relationship with model Kayla Rae Reid. They became engaged that following October.

38. On December 14, 2016, the couple announced that they are currently expecting their first child.