By Edwin Sam, Sports Section Editor.
As famous (and overrated) rapper T.I. would say, Ryan Lochte possesses “the spirit of a hustler and the swagger of a college kid.” While the face of American swimming used to be Phelps, with his record-breaking eight gold medals from Beijing, Lochte has stolen the spotlight in and out of the pool since 2009. Known for his heart-stealing looks, stellar swimming results, and his exciting, dynamic personality, over the course of past few years Lochte has overtaken Phelps and not looked back.
If you crunch the numbers, Reezy (Lochte’s self-given nickname) has continuously shown his dominance over Phelps in head-to-head races.
In the 2010 U.S. Championships, Lochte prevailed in two of three head-to-head races vs. Phelps, tying the series 2-2. In each the 200m IM and 200m backstroke, he defeated Phelps taking home the gold medals, while Phelps won the 200m freestyle by .17 seconds over Lochte.
A year earlier at the
U.S. Championships, Phelps topped Lochte by 1.43 seconds in their only head-to-head race, the 200m freestyle, winning gold and leaving Lochte with a bronze medal. In the same meet, Phelps won two other gold medals (100m/200m backstroke) while Lochte collected two gold medals (200m/400m IM) and one silver medal (200m backstroke) in addition to his bronze.
At the 2011 FINA (French acronym for International Swimming Federation) World Championships, Ryan Lochte again took the head-to-head advantage over Michael Phelps, winning by .35 seconds in the 200m freestyle and by .16 seconds in the 200m IM. At this point in the series, Lochte held a 4-2 lead over Phelps.
Ignoring the U.S. Olympic Trials, the rivalry continued in London. In the 400m IM, Lochte took gold with a time of 4:05.18 as Phelps placed fourth with an extremely disappointing time of 4:09.28 seconds. However, later in the 200m IM, roles reversed and Phelps took an early lead,which he never relinquished, to defeat Lochte by .63 seconds.
As Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson’s, Mario Balotelli’s, or Tiger Woods’s fans will point out, sports are not limited to on-the-field activities. While many athletes choose to entertain their supporters solely with their athletic performance, certain athletes decide to make names for themselves, and make an impact on society outside of their sports.
Outside of the pool is where Lochte holds the largest lead over Phelps. Though Phelps currently holds much bigger endorsement deals than Lochte, it will not be long until the image of Phelps fades away and another swimmer will need to fill his spot. Already, just a month after the London Olympics, Ryan Lochte has used social media and TV appearances to advance his public relations (PR) with fans. Lochte’s PR will even improve further if he swims in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Whether he is showing off his patriotism, individuality, and arrogance with his customized grill (and no Mr. Brownstein, not the kind you make hamburgers with), Lochte never fails to express his true, albeit egotistical personality. As athletes hold back celebrations and lose some of the fun of winning to preserve sportsmanship, sports fans yearn for characters like Lochte to be the spark to ignite excitement within a sport’s fanbase.
