What happened to disgraced Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte?

Ryan Lochte is one of the most decorated male swimmers of all time, and when it comes to Olympic medals he’s second only to Michael Phelps. However, the athlete’s life has been plagued by hardships that go far beyond the pressures of the swimming pool.

After athletic success, including a total of 90 medals and two world records across competitions, the name Lochte is probably more easily associated with “Lochtegate,” the nickname given by the public and media to the scandal the swimmer and three of his U.S. teammates were involved in during the 2016 Rio Olympics. After a night out celebrating the end of a triumphant few days of competition, the Americans stopped at a gas station where they then claimed they had been robbed at gunpoint.

A police investigation and CCTV footage later revealed that was not the whole story. A man did seem to be pointing a gun at the group, and one of the athletes was seen taking out his wallet to pay him, but what the clip also revealed was that the Olympians had vandalized the station’s public toilet. Later, Brazilian police claimed the gunman was actually a security guard trying to convince the men to get out of the car and pay for the damages.

Lochte was charged with false testimony by the Rio de Janeiro authorities and suspended for 10 months by the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming. The charges were dropped a year later, but his character as the most famous person involved in the ordeal was forever stained. A 14-month suspension in 2018 for doping didn’t help matters, either.

Adding to these rocky events, privately Lochte has also dealt with a contentious relationship with his family and, especially, his mother, bouts of depression, and a devastating car crash that he considers himself lucky to have survived.

So, where is Ryan Lochte now?

After retirement, the Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalist has been dedicating his time to raising his three children and teaching other people’s children how to swim by partnering with Lifetime Fitness and traveling the country, while also doing his fair share of television appearances including The Traitors and Celebrity Big Brother. The project and his family, he told First Coast News in July, have helped him deal with feeling lost and depressed after hanging up his trunks and goggles.

For months now, Lochte has also been putting most of his energy into recovering from a violent road accident that left his femur broken in half and the swimmer unable to walk in November of 2023. He was on his way to pick up his kids from school when he ran into a trash truck that was parked in the middle of the road, with its hazard lights turned off. According to his description of the events, Lochte only noticed it when the car in front of him successfully swerved the truck, but unfortunately, the swimmer wasn’t as fast.

He recently shared a milestone video on social media of him going for a run. “From a wheelchair to a walker to crutches, to one crutch, to being able to run … in less than a year,” his wife, model Kayla Rae Reid, commented. Speaking on the Athletes Only Podcast in January, Lochte choked up as he described the trauma he had suffered, both physical and psychological. “Not knowing that I would wake up and see my family again (…) I’m so thankful. In a blink of an eye, your life can be over,” he expressed, emotionally. He’s on the road to a full recovery now.