Ryan's Official Facebook Page and Medal List

Ryan now has an official fan page on facebook, which is really nice. Hopefully it will be a good source of news about his upcoming meets and other events. The link is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Lochte-Official-Fan-Page/116972568324275#!/pages/Ryan-Lochte-Official-Fan-Page/116972568324275?v=info

I couldn't help but notice some mistakes in his accomplishments. For instance, the facebook page lists 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1WR for the 2009 FINA World Championships. He actually won 4 Golds and 1 Bronze and had 2 WRs. The information about the 2006 Short Course World Championships is also inaccurrate.

It reminded me that there are mistakes on Ryan's profile page on Swimnetwork.com. Swimnetwork says Ryan won 17 world championship medals including 10 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze. That's way short of what he's actually accomplished.

I hate to see Ryan shortchanged because there are not many swimmers who have accomplished more than him.

Here is what I believe is an accurate list of all of Ryan's medals at the major meets:

2009 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - ROME: 4 Gold, 1 Bronze, 2 WR
200m IM - Gold (WR)
400m IM - Gold
200m Back - Bronze
4 x 100m Free Relay - Gold
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold (WR)

2008 OLYMPICS - BEIJING: 2 Gold, 2 Bronze, 2 WR
200m IM - Bronze
400m IM - Bronze
200m Back - Gold (WR)
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold (WR)

2008 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SHORT COURSE) - MANCHESTER: 4 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 WR
200m Back - Silver
100m IM - Gold (WR)
200m IM - Gold (WR)
400m IM - Gold
4 x 100m Free Relay - Gold (WR)
4 x 100m Medley Relay (Silver)

2007 FINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - MELBORNE: 2 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 WR
100m Back - Silver
200m Back - Gold (WR)
200m IM - Silver
400m IM - Silver
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold (WR)

2006 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SHORT COURSE) - SHANGHAI: 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze, 2 WR
200m Back - Gold (WR)
200m IM - Gold (WR)
400m IM - Gold
4 x 100m Free Relay - Bronze
4 x 200m Free Relay - Bronze
4 x 100m Medley Relay - Silver

2005 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - MONTREAL: 1 Gold, 2 Bronze
200m Back - Bronze
200m IM - Bronze
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold

2004 OLYMPICS - ATHENS: 1 Gold, 1 Silver
200m IM - Silver
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold

2004 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SHORT COURSE) - INDIANAPOLIS: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
200m Free - Bronze
4 x 200m Free Relay - Gold
200m IM - Silver

• Ryan has won 6 Olympic medals, including 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze.
• Ryan has won 28 World Championship medals, including 15 Gold, 7 Silver and 6 Bronze.
• Ryan has set 11 World Records in international competitions.

Mike Gustafson Interview with Ryan Lochte on Swimnetwork.com

Most fans of Ryan have probably already read this article & interview, but I wanted to post it here on the off chance someone hasn't read it yet. It talks about Ryan's appeal to swimming fans, which is that he lets people see his true personality and doesn't try to be perfect. This is precisely what I find to be compelling about him, in addition to his achievements in swimming.

It's the same reason I prefer non-fiction over fiction. I like real people, faults and all. To me, real people are infinitely more interesting than a public relations image.

The article/interview is really well written and fun to read. It talks about Ryan's philanthropy, which is more involved than I knew.

In terms of swimming, Ryan says there is a lot more he wants to accomplish. Ryan still hasn't been able to swim breaststroke, which is concerning. I'm starting to think he may not be able to defend his 200 IM world record at nationals this summer. On the bright side, it will free him up to concentrate on 100/200 back and 100/200 free. Will he also try for the 400 free? We'll have to wait and see.

One comment on the article though...I hate the nickname "Lochtenator" Ugh. It's Reezy :)

http://www.swimnetwork.com/News/Swimming/Blogs/Mike-Gustafson/2010/04/The-Other-Side-of-Ryan-Lochte.aspx

Pan Pacs Tickets

The Pan Pacs, this year's big meet for the USA national team, will take place in Irvine, California from August 18-21, 2010. The meet will have the best swimmers from the US, Canada, Japan and Australia. 200 back showdown with Peirsol/Lochte/Irie anyone?

Gold Medal Mel announced on his website that USA Swimming is offering a VIP All-Sessions Package for Pan Pacs. The cost is $1,000 per person, which seems like a lot for a swim meet. But you get a lot of bang for your buck including:

· VIP Seating directly behind the starting blocks
· Nightly Receptions prior to Finals
· Complimentary Event Program and Daily Heat Sheet
· All-Session Event Credential
· Complimentary food and drink at each session
· Opportunity to meet selected athletes (based on athlete schedule and availability)
· Ticket to attend the Team USA Celebration Dinner on the final night of the meet with the team

Most importantly, your ticket purchase will support the USA Swimming Foundation and its "learn to swim" programs.

That's a pretty good deal, especially if you want the opportunity to meet swimmers. More information can be found at:

http://www.goldmedalmel.typepad.com/mel/2010/04/pan-pacific-games-have-you-thought-about-them-theyre-august-18-21st-in-irvine-ca-have-you-considered-that-theyll-be-the-o.html

If you want to buy regular tickets, they are on sale here http://usaswimming.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=242146 for $100 per person for the entire event.

NBC will televise the Pan Pacs in the US on August 21 from 2-4 pm (EDT) and on August 22 from 3-4 pm (EDT). That's 3 hours of swimming on national TV, which I'm not going to complain about, but it would be more fun to attend and see everything.

Ryan's Speech at an International Swim Clinic in Venezuela

Listen to Ryan walk the audience through his entire swimming career and talk about his swimming future. 2016 may have been mentioned.

Swimming Science Analysis of Ryan's 200m IM World Record

The Swimming Science blog just published an article containing an analysis of the WRs in the 200 IM both long course and short course. The article concluded that Ryan's long course record is more impressive than Darian Townsend's short course record.

The article does not mention that until Townsend broke the short course WR in late 2009, Ryan held the WR in both the long course and short course events. Ryan also holds the American record in the 200 yard IM.

I've never been good at science or math so I can't begin to understand the fine points of this analysis, but it is interesting nonetheless.

http://www.swimmingscience.net/2010/04/wr-analysis-men-200-im.html

Ryan's interviews at JAX 50

JAX 50 - Ryan came in 4th - Videos of races

All race videos can be found at www.swimmingworld.tv

Here are Ryan's races:

Round 1


Round 2


Round 3

How many events will Ryan Lochte swim in the 2012 Olympics (Swimming World Magazine poll)

Vote here (scroll down, bottom right side)

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/

I voted 7.

Ryan competing in JAX 50 on Saturday, April 10 - Watch it live

Ryan is competing tomorrow (Saturday, April 10) in the JAX 50 Sprint Challenge charity swim event at Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. It's an all-out race in a 50-yard pool. Walls & underwater kicking will be key. I think Ryan has a good chance of winning even though sprinting is not his usual thing.

You can watch it live at the link below starting at 6 pm eastern time (11 pm GMT).

http://www.swimmingworld.tv/blogs/2010/4/9/swimmingworldtv-goes-coast-to-coast-tomorrow.html

Olympians Cullen Jones, Matt Grevers and George Bovell will also be competing. Read about it here: http://www.planetswim.org/

To make things even more exciting, on Sunday, April 11 at 2 pm (7 pm GMT) Matt Grevers and Nick Thoman are racing head-to-head in the 100 back. Grevers has the 2nd fastest time in the world in 2010 in the 100 back (53.05) and Thoman has the 5th fastest time in 2010 (53.95). It's going to be awesome.

Ryan Lochte Interviews April 2010 - Swimmingworld.tv and Gold Medal Mel

Peter Busch interviewed Ryan for swimmingworld.tv. We learn that Ryan's injured knee is 90% healed, although he still can't swim breaststroke. Ryan is hoping to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in the 400 IM. So glad he's not giving that up. Ryan said he hopes to qualify in "9 or 10 events" including the 200/400 IM, 100/200 back, 100/200 free and all 3 relays! Ryan talks about changes in his training, including strongman weight workouts and eating well. Wonder if this means no more McDonalds.

http://www.swimnetwork.com/Multimedia/Media-Center.aspx#/id=8848fb22-a77d-4955-bcc1-319b14c126bc/


Gold Medal Mel interviewed Ryan for swimnetwork.com. Ryan talked more about his strongman weight workouts and how he is in his hard training right now, swimming two practices almost every day. Couldn't get this video to embed.