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INFO // biography
Being a leader is something I have worked all of my life at becoming, and after winning gold and silver medals in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, I have been given that opportunity.
As an Olympic champion, I have added responsibilities and, because of that, I’m more of a leader on the University of Florida swim team now. Despite any individual success I have had, I know that my teammates are looking forward to a successful season, and for that to happen it will take leadership. I like having that kind of responsibility and I know that together we can reach those goals.
I started swimming competitively at the age of 9. My parents were swimming coaches, so I just kind of fell into it. My mom was my first coach and as I got older my dad became my primary coach.
Then, in 1992, I watched the Olympics and saw Pablo Morales win a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly. After seeing him accomplish something that many thought he couldn’t, I knew that I wanted to represent my country in the Olympics and win a gold medal.
I went to Spruce Creek High School, where I played basketball and also swam. I was a four-time All-state selection and also the Florida Division 3A Champion in the 200-yard freestyle in 2001.
At the end of my junior year of high school, I knew I had to start looking at schools to continue my academic and swimming careers. I took a trip to the University of Florida, and I fell in love with this place.
My dad, who is my swimming club coach, had become good friends with UF Head Coach Gregg Troy and also felt that Florida would be a great place to continue my swimming career because it has one of the elite swimming programs in the country.
Coach Troy came to my house to recruit me, and we talked about how I had my eyes set on the 2004 Olympics.
From there, we mapped out a two-year plan, and I stuck with it every day.
I was off to a good start my freshman year at UF. I recorded 22 first-place finishes, and I was also named Southeastern Conference Male Swimmer of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Male High Point Award Winner.
In my sophomore season, I went undefeated for the regular season in nine different events and captured first place finishes in 12 different individual events. I earned six All-American honors at the NCAA championships, where I broke American, U.S. Open and NCAA short course records for my performance in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:04.52.
Throughout my time here at UF, I found myself gazing at the wall of past Olympians from UF during every team meeting we’d have at the Swimming and Diving Center, just hoping I could add my name to the long list of Gator Olympic swimmers.
In July, it was finally time for the U.S. Olympic trials that would determine if I would make this year’s Olympic team.
Swimming under the lights in Long Beach, California, I finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle to qualify for the 800-meter freestyle relay that would compete in Athens.
At the Olympic camp in California, everyone clicked together. The camp, for the guys’ team, was the time that we bonded.
After the two-week training camp, we flew over to Athens as a team. As soon as we got off the plane, we had escorts where we picked up our credentials and bags and everything. The whole process of us getting on the bus then to the village had to have taken five hours. Security was with us the whole time.
During the Olympics, we had U.S.A. bags, and people would give us nasty stares. It was kind of hard. I remember one night, we were downtown, and getting a cab took at least an hour and a half to two hours just because they knew we were American, and they didn’t want anything to do with us.
I got homesick in Athens. While I was in training camp in California, I was getting messages on my phone all of the time. But once I left the States, I couldn’t use my cell phone. Also, my mom stayed home with my younger brother. It was rough for her and I tried to make the best of it.
In the Olympic Village, we hung out with all the people from different teams, including Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and all the other Australian swimmers. All the swimmers were friendly with each other at the Olympic Village, but at the pool, everyone changed.
The 800-meter freestyle relay was the first event. I had the fastest time of any competitor in the morning’s race and was put on the relay that would swim for the gold.
Before the relay, I was relaxed, because I knew I had three other guys on the team swimming it with me. Early on, we were ahead of the Australians, because Michael Phelps (who went on to win six gold medals) got us the lead. I was thinking, standing on the block, “I don’t want to be that guy that lets the Australians catch up to us.” I also knew how the Australians tend to swim their races. They go all out in the beginning and then try to hang on at the end.
Swimming the second leg of the relay against Michael Klim, I extended our lead by 10-hundredths of a second.
Then, Peter Vanderkaay extended our lead even more against Nick Sprenger, and Klete Keller, in the final leg, went up against Ian Thorpe. Keller held off Thorpe and we finished with a time of 7:07.33, beating the Australians by 13-hundredths of a second.
I didn’t take the medal off that night.
The silver medal I won two days later by myself in the 200-meter individual medley. I think it was more important to me than the gold, because I did it myself.
The entire Gator swim team and some reporters met me at the airport in Gainesville the night I came home from Athens. It was amazing, because I had no idea that anyone would be there, but the turnout was overwhelming and the other passengers on my flight had no idea what was going on.
Now, I’m getting back into my routine at school. I’m still training like I did before Athens, because I want to swim in the 2008Olympics, and my teammates and I have some lofty goals for SEC and NCAA Championships this year.
Other than those, my biggest goal is graduating with my degree in sports management.
Going to classes is funny now, because I hear, “Pssst, that’s Ryan Lochte.” The whispers from people in class or when I’m around town took some getting used to. But, other than that, I’m just being myself and enjoying my time here at UF.
Bio courtesy of Gainesville Magazine
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