Rumor: Ryan Lochte scratched all events at this weekend's Florida Senior Championships

Can't blame him for not wanting to go to swim meets two weekends in a row.  Can anyone confirm?

USA Swimming's Mike Gustafson's writes "5 THINGS WE LEARNED DURING THE ARENA GRAND PRIX AT ORLANDO"

Click here:  http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemId=5042&mid=12660

2. Ryan Murphy upsets Ryan Lochte. 
It was a battle of the Ryans: Lochte vs. Murphy. Two Florida-based swimmers battling to be Orlando’s King of Sprint Backstroke. Surprisingly, Murphy came out on top in the 100m distance with a swift 54.9. Talk about a confidence-booster. Lochte’s strongest stroke is the backstroke. For a teenager to upset Lochte near his home turf was a big shocker. “It’s just how to deal with pain and the determination to finish,” Murphy said after the race about finishing hard and surging to the wall. Murphy also pointed out the plethora of talented young backstrokers in the United States – Jack Conger comes to mind – and how it is Murphy's goal to hopefully one day join the United States’ illustrious history of top-level backstrokers. This weekend was a stepping stone towards doing just that. 

1. Ryan Lochte’s Reality Show Overtakes Orlando. 
Before the meet, I said that Ryan Lochte wouldn’t swim that fast because he was most likely enduring some heavy training. Truth is, Ryan Lochte didn’t swim fast because he’s shooting his E! reality show, “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” The relatively grueling and all-encompassing shooting schedule will eat up eight weeks of Ryan Lochte’s training life, which means more time in front of the cameras, and less time in the pool. After the meet, Lochte joked, “[Coach Gregg Troy] calls me yelling at me all the time, threatening to kick me off the team.” But while it’s frustrating to swim enthusiasts that Lochte hasn’t been fully training as hard as he could, at the same time, this reality show opportunity only comes once a blue moon for a swimmer. Ryan Lochte wants to take full advantage of his post-London celebrity. This is the only real time he can afford to take off in the build-up to the 2016 Olympic campaign. Despite the break from the full training schedule, Lochte should still be ready to go by this summer’s World Championships.

Senior Championships in Orlando Florida this weekend

It's back to the Orlando YMCA this weekend for the Florida Senior Championships, a meet Ryan always attends.  Unlike the Orlando Grand Prix, this meet will be in short course yards not meters.  It's also partially an age group meet, so there are separate heats for Boys and Girls age 14-16 and Men's and Women's (age 17 and above).

I've never been to the Orlando YMCA but it always seems so dark in the pool area.  It probably just appears that way in photos and videos.

The meet takes place from February 21-24, but the first day is for the 1000 yard free and the 800 free relays only.  Ryan will be swimming on February 22-24.

You can watch the finals live at Florida Swim Network at 5:30 p.m. EST each day.  This is really great, because in the past it has been really difficult to find information about this meet, much less see the action live!

Florida Swim Network's link to the live stream can be found here:  http://www.floridaswimnetwork.com/watch-senior-champs/

Florida Swim Network's link to the psych sheet is here:  http://www.floridaswimnetwork.com/senior-champ-psych-sheet/

Ryan's events are as follows:

Event 12 - Men's 200y Free (Friday, Feb. 22)
Event 24 - Men's 400y IM (Friday, Feb. 22)
Event 32 - Men's 50y Free (Saturday, Feb. 23)
Event 40 - Men's 100y Back (Saturday, Feb. 23)
Event 54 - Men's 100y Free (Sunday, Feb. 24)

Ryan Lochte is not giving up the 400m IM

According to this article by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press, Ryan is not giving up the 400 IM:

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/lochte-struggles-balance-demands-tv-pool-18526279
(read the whole article at the link)

"I'm really not looking at narrowing down my events," Lochte said. "I'm keeping them all open. I love racing. I'm going to race as many events as I physically can."

Even the 400 individual medley, which he won in London with a dominating performance but hasn't been swimming on the Grand Prix circuit, will likely remain a part of his schedule at major events such as the Olympics and world championships.

"A lot of people are saying that I'm done with the 400 IM," Lochte said. "You know what? I'm still going to swim it. I like the 400 IM, even as much as it hurts, because it's one of the hardest events. I think that's why I like it. I'm going to keep doing the 400 IM. I'm not going to train specifically for it. I'm going to train for the other events. But I will be swimming the 400 IM."

So filming the reality show IS interfering with Ryan's swimming

http://espn.go.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/8955451/ryan-lochte-missy-franklin-win-events-arena-grand-prix

http://swimswam.com/lochte-says-reality-show-will-impede-practice-for-8-weeks/

From the ESPN article and Swimswam.com video linked above:

"One thing I can take from this meet is I need to be in the water on a consistent basis," said Lochte, whose show, "What Would Ryan Lochte do," will debut in April on E! Entertainment Television. "Shooting this show, which I love doing -- it's good for the sport -- but I didn't realize they'd be pulling me in different directions all the time, and I haven't really been consistent in the pool."

About the 200 back.....

"What didn't go wrong?" Lochte said. "Off the start, my hands weren't together, I was diving in like an age-grouper, my kick-outs weren't good at all, my strokes were just choppy, I didn't build into each roll, wasn't finishing my kick-out stroke. I don't even know what happened in freestyle."

Gregg Troy isn't happy.....

He estimates he is making about half of his regularly scheduled practices, drawing the ire of coach Gregg Troy.

"Gregg hates it," Lochte said with a grin. "He calls me, yelling at me all the time, threatening to kick me off the team and go somewhere else. I'm like, look, this is for me, just stick with me for eight weeks until we're done shooting this show and then I'll get back into it."

None of this is surprising, and while Ryan's reasons for doing the show (to bring more focus on swimming) are laudable, I hope there's time to fix it before U.S. Nationals in July.  In the big scheme of things, with the prize being the Olympics in 2016, this year doesn't matter.  Still, preparing for the Olympics is a tricky business.  In the lead-up to London, Ryan seemed to peak in 2011 at the World Championships in Shanghai and not in 2012.  The Olympics are a four-year process a bad 2013 could hurt in the long run.  We shall see.

Despite the negative view a lot of people have about reality shows, they are popular.  If done right, the show could make swimming more popular.  It will be very interesting, though, to see how it affects Ryan's swimming.  If he has a bad 2013, will he still be as popular?

Orlando Grand Prix - Saturday Results

200m IM



200m Back

Orlando Grand Prix - Friday Results

100m back

"What Would Ryan Lochte Do" - Ryan Lochte's Realty TV Show Debuts on April 21st on E

Here's an article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal that discusses the show:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130214/SPORTS/130219875/1001?Title=Reality-show-a-full-time-job-right-now-for-Ryan-Lochte

April 21st - mark your calendars

Orlando Grand Prix - Thursday Results

100m Fly



200m Free

Orlando Grand Prix - February 14-16, 2013

This year the February stop on the Grand Prix circuit is in Orlando instead of Missouri.  I always enjoyed the Missouri Grand Prix so here's hoping Orlando can do it justice.  I wonder if Ryan will be swimming in the Senior Championships, also in Orlando and in SCYs, one week later on February 22-24.

Ryan is in 1st place for men in the Grand Prix standings with 31 points.  Missy Franklin is in first place overall with 48 points.

The psych sheet for the Orlando Grand Prix can be found at usaswimming.org, here:  Orlando GP Psych Sheet

Ryan's events are:

Event 2 - Men's 200m free
Event 6 - Men's 100m fly
Event 16 - Men's 100m back
Event 18 - Men's 400m free
Event 25 - Men's 200m IM
Event 27 - Men's 200m back
Event 29 - Men's 100m free

A triple on the final day, should be interesting!