IF YOU HADN’T seen Ryan Lochte swim, you could be forgiven for thinking that he wasn’t an altogether serious athlete.

He’s obsessed with Li’l Wayne and owns a selection of diamond-encrusted grilles, one of which he insists on wearing to each of his medal ceremonies; he surfs; he skateboards; he “has an eye” for urban fashion; and at the Beijing Olympics (where he took home four medals, including an individual gold in the 200m backstroke) he subsisted primarily on McDonald’s.

As this anecdote from a 2007 profile of Lochte (or the Lochtenator, as he’d happily have it) by the New York Times’ Karen Crouse makes clear, the swimmer’s attention tends to wander when he’s left to his own devices.

Between his sophomore and junior years, Lochte qualified for the 2004 United States Olympic team in the 200-meter individual medley and the 800 freestyle relay. He advanced to the 200 I.M. final in Athens. Before reporting to the ready room, where all the finalists gather before the race, Lochte had a brief conversation with [his sister] Megan.

‘Rye, Rye, are you nervous?’ she said. Instead of answering, Lochte said, ‘I need 70 euros.’ Megan was taken aback. What for? she wanted to know. ‘To get a box of cigars,’ Lochte said, grinning. His sister returned to her seat and informed her parents, who were nervous wrecks, that Lochte was fine.

A few minutes later, he swam the second-fastest time in Olympic history to take the silver medal behind Phelps.

Get him near a body of water, though, and instinct takes over. With every stroke taken, he’s drawing on nearly two decades’ worth of dedicated training.

After spending his formative years under the gently persuasive influence of his parents, both of whom are swimming instructors, Lochte won a scholarship to the University of Florida, one of the strongest  swimming programmes in the country. It was there that his transformation from teen phenom to Olympic athlete reached its conclusion.

That’s not to suggest that Lochte is coasting on the benefits of his upbringing or genetic endowment; life on the United States swimming team demands a level of intense dedication. Have a read of this excerpt from a 2008 interview with Laura Lane, carried out for Men’s Fitness:

What’s a typical training day?

I usually wake up around 5:30 a.m. I get something to eat, like a Pop-Tart, fruit, and orange juice. Then I go to practice and swim for two and a half hours, from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Then I eat breakfast: four eggs, three pancakes, two bowls of cereal, two fruits, two glasses of milk, OJ, and oatmeal. My nutritionist said if there’s any point in the day when I’m hungry, then I’m not doing a good job. So basically I’m always eating something. Two hours later, I’ll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a snack. Lunch is like chicken and pasta. We lift weights in between morning and afternoon practice, and then we have “dry land” where we run or do abs from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. And then from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. we’re in the water. I drink two Gatorades during practice, a protein shake after. For dinner, I have a big 16-ounce steak with mashed potatoes, salad, and a nice cold beer. And then right before bed, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Lochte’s current vein of Phelps-beating form dates to last year, when a change in his diet (less sugar and fast food, more greens) led to increased stamina and alertness during training.

He’s just backed up a stellar performance at the 2010 Short Course Championships with a haul of five gold medals at the World Championships in Shanghai. The highlights of his journey to China were undoubtedly his victories over Phelps in the 200m freestyle and 200m IM, a race that also saw him become the first swimmer to break a world record set during the era of textile bodysuits.

He may be still wary of Phelps’ habit of rising to the big occasion, but to everyone else Lochte is looking like the swimmer to beat next year in London.

Read Karen Crouse’s excellent 2007 profile of Lochte on the New York Times website >

You can read more about Ryan Lochte’s 2008 training regime at CBS >

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