After serving a 14-month ban for an intravenous IV which he somewhat narced on himself for with an ill-advised Instagram post, Ryan Lochte returned to the pool on Wednesday with a (goggled) eye on making it back to the Olympics next summer.
It’s been a trying three years for the 12-time Olympic medalist because, in addition to the lengthy ban for the IV, he also served a 10-month ban for the alcohol-fueled incident that made headlines at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
About to turn 35 on Sunday, Lochte is hoping to get back to his fifth Olympics despite all his trials and tribulations and being forced to spend two years in all away from competitive swimming.
He made the first step in that direction by swimming the 200 IM in 1:57.88 — 3.88 seconds off his world-record time of 1:54.00 — at time trials on Wednesday, easily qualifying him for the U.S. Olympic trials.
Lochte, who checked himself into a rehab center in Florida last year for six weeks of treatment, sounded happy about his return to the water following the meet.
“I’m having fun swimming again,’’ he told USA Today. “And I haven’t had fun since the 2012 Olympics. So it’s been a long time where I can honestly say I’m stepping out on that pool deck with a big smile on my face, and I owe it all to my kids and my wife. They’ve been my backbone throughout this whole journey these past three years ago. I’m having fun again, and it’s awesome. I owe it all to them.’’
Michael Phelps, 34, will be watching the Games in Tokyo in 2020. Caeleb Dressel, a 22-year-old American, could be his heir apparent.
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