Ryan Lochte misses Olympic spot in 400 IM
OMAHA —The decision was difficult, and in retrospect, Ryan Lochte’s coach would have pulled his star pupil from the 400-meter individual medley final Sunday night.
Lochte had pulled his groin muscle earlier, during the breaststroke portion of his preliminary swim, and he was still in significant pain during his warmups Sunday night.
“He’s done this before, where he strains his groin at times,” said David Marsh, Lochte’s coach. “The hope is that because he swam so well this morning — basically light, his lactates recovered really quick — that he’d be able to power through this and still get at least second place.”
For half of the 400 IM final, that looked to be the case as Lochte built a body-length lead during the butterfly and backstroke. All was going according to plan; Lochte knew he had to go out faster than normal to offset what would again be a painful breaststroke.
Painful turned out to be an understatement. Not only did Chase Kalisz pass him, but it also drained his energy heading into the final 100 meters of freestyle. Jay Litherland — a strong closer — passed Lochte, too, touching second. Kalisz and Litherland will represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I did everything I could in that race,” Lochte said Sunday night. “It just wasn’t enough.”
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Lochte, 31, won gold in the event in 2012, his lone individual gold medal from the London Games. He will not defend his title in Rio.
Marsh tried everything he could do to get Lochte ready for the night final. He spoke with Lochte’s former coach, Gregg Troy, for advice about how to handle Lochte’s groin pull; the swimmer has had a history of groin pulls and strains. Troy suggested an adjustment to Lochte’s breaststroke kick, a way to make it smaller.
“We tried to do that as well,” Marsh said. “There were a lot of things going on that were complications. If I had to do it all over again, I would have pulled him (from the final) after his warmup when we were trying to adjust the stroke and we could never get it very fast.”
Marsh said that no matter what Lochte swims the rest of the week, a doctor assured him it will not damage the groin any further. It will hurt Lochte, but not damage him more.
“He’ll be dealing with some level of pain management through the meet,” Marsh said. “He was walking fine after the race, so that’s good to see.”
Marsh said he expects Lochte to swim the 200 IM Thursday and Friday, though Lochte will need to make it through three times swimming 50 meters of breaststroke to do so (prelims, semifinals and the final). Lochte is also entered in four other events this week: The 200-meter freestyle, 100 free, 200 backstroke and 100 fly.
Though he has five more opportunities to make the U.S. Olympic team, it’s still jarring that the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 400 IM will not swim the event in Rio. And it’s also jarring to note that neither Lochte or 22-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps will be in the pool on the Games’ first night at all. It will be the first time since 2000 that neither swimmer will race the most grueling event at the Olympics.
“I know how Ryan feels,” Phelps said Sunday night. “That race is one of the hardest races you can put your body through. That’s a race you have to be ready for. If I could pick apart the race, you can’t overdo your legs the first 200. I know from experience; I did it in London. You need all of your legs for breaststroke. If you don’t have your legs in breaststroke, you might as well just call it a race. The last 50, I knew exactly how he was feeling. I had the same exact feeling in 2012 in London (when he finished fourth). I will say Ryan is someone who is very tough. He is someone who will bounce back. He’s got a full plate and full schedule this week, and I’m sure he will use this as motivation to get going.”
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