Swimming with a medalist
Ryan Lochte wasn't always a gold medal-winning, world record-breaking U.S. Olympic swimmer.
``Quite honestly, he was a real pain in the butt,'' said his father and former coach, Steve Lochte. ``He was all over the place, and gave me a lot of gray hairs. I threw him out of the water and out of practice.''
``Every day, almost,'' interjects the younger Lochte, smirking and shaking his head. He went on to win gold in the 4x200 free relay in Athens in 2004 and took home gold again in that same event and in the 200 meter backstroke this year in Beijing.
The 24-year-old University of Florida graduate said remembering those teenage years in Daytona Beach, Fla., makes him grateful to be a part of the 2008 S.C. Select Swimming Camp in Myrtle Beach.
``It means everything,'' Ryan Lochte said, one in a family full of swimmers. ``It's definitely an honor ... being able to come to swim clinics and help little kids out."
The camp brought 60 of the state's top swimmers together Saturday and today at Pepper Geddings Recreation Center. Athletes packed the pool's bleachers, buzzing about the clinic's guest coach.
"I'm looking forward to meeting Ryan Lochte," said Myrtle Beach swimmer Megan Kingsley, 12. "I think that will be really cool - getting tips on things I haven't noticed before with my swimming."
"Last time an Olympian came, it was Josh Davis [1996 U.S. Olympic gold medalist] and it helped me a lot with my strokes," said Myrtle Beach swimmer Phil Mustert, 17.
Steve Lochte talked with campers about the importance of developing physically, socially, emotionally and pyschologically as swimmers. He stressed the need for a solid partnership and support system among swimmer, coach and parents, especially if the coach and parent are one in the same.
"There was no speaking about swimming at home," he said. "We were a family at home. Once that gate closed, I was his father."
Steve Lochte took questions from coaches and swimmers, balancing wisdom with teasing his son. "Ryan hasn't been in the water since Beijing, so if any of you are feeling hot, take him on," he said.
At his father's instruction, Ryan Lochte demonstrated a 25 meter, or one pool length, butterfly stroke. When he fully resurfaced, he groaned about his first post-Olympics swim, setting off a wave of laughter among the campers.
Out of the pool, the self-proclaimed "go-with-the-flow" guy talked easily about swimming, as much a part of him as his trademark shaggy hair.
In the pool, though, it's a different story.
"As soon as they say: 'Swimmers take your marks,' I don't know, something happens," he said. "It switches in me. I no longer become that laid-back Ryan Lochte guy; I become a racer."
In competition, he said, swimmers have to trust themselves and their teammates, but they can still have fun.
When it comes to the future, Ryan Lochte's eyes light up as he talks about having a clothing line, a passion he plans to pursue when he's done in the pool.
Both he and his dad say they've got lots of laps to go before that happens.
"I know the day he's going to stop and I can predict it," said Steve Lochte. "I can tell you when he stops swimming is the day he stops having fun."
