page_title: Ryan Lochte
section_title: Olympics
hierarchical_section_title: Ryan Lochte / International career / 2012 Summer Olympics / Olympics
caption_attribution_description: IMG_5105
context_page_description: Ryan Steven Lochte is an American competitive swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps. Lochte's seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men's swimming, tied for second among all Olympic swimmers. He currently holds the world records in the 200-meter individual medley. As part of the American teams, he also holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
  Lochte's success has earned him SwimSwam's Swammy Award for U.S. Male Swimmer of the Year in 2013, the World Swimmer of the Year Award and the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. He has also been named the FINA Swimmer of the Year three times. He has won a total of 90 medals in major international competition spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, Pan American Games, and Pan Pacific Championships, including six Olympic gold medals and 39 world championship titles.
  Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle and butterfly swimmer.
context_section_description: At the Olympics in London, Lochte won his first gold medal of the games in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:05.18.  Commenting on his first medal of the 2012 Olympics and head-to-head competition with fellow American and world record holder, Michael Phelps, Lochte acknowledged Phelps' greatness while positioning himself as the best today.
  Lochte won a silver medal with the U.S. 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, losing out to the French team with a 47.74 split, a full second slower than the French finishing swimmer Yannick Agnel and six tenths of a second slower than teammate Phelps.
  Lochte placed fourth in the 200-meter freestyle race.  He followed that performance, however, by winning gold with the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle team.  Lochte swam the first split and provided the U.S. team a commanding lead, which it never relinquished.
  On the sixth night of the Games, Lochte swam his last two finals, with only 30 minutes in between. First, he won the bronze medal in the 200m backstroke, finishing behind compatriot Tyler Clary and Japan's Ryosuke Irie. His time of 1.53.94 tied the time he swam four years ago when he won the gold medal at the 2008 Games, which was then a world record. Half an hour later, Lochte took on Phelps in the 200m individual medley. He won a silver medal behind Phelps in what was thought at the time to be the last head-to-head race of their careers, as Phelps retired after the Games. This was the third consecutive Olympics in which Lochte won a medal in the 200m individual medley.
  His five medals brought his total to 11 Olympic medals, tied for second among male swimmers with compatriots Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi, behind only Phelps. His seven individual Olympic medals are the second-most in men's Olympic swimming, surpassing Zoltán Halmay and Mark Spitz, who won six.
  Lochte has announced he intends to continue swimming through the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He is also considering exploring new events.
caption: Lochte after the 200m backstroke
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