Six-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte has joined the swimming staff at Missouri State, where he will serve as an assistant to coach Dave Collins for both the men’s and women’s programs, beginning later this summer.
Lochte, the 41-year-old who won 12 overall medals during four Summer Games, is recognized as one of the most decorated Olympic swimmers in history. His competitive career at Florida led to 18 long-course world championships and 21 short-course world titles.
“Swimming gave me structure, purpose and a platform to grow not just as an athlete but as a person,” Lochte said in a statement. “To now step into a coaching role and pour that experience back into student-athletes is something I take seriously.”
His brilliant swimming career, however, was not without controversy.
In 2016, he claimed to be among four American swimmers who were robbed by armed men in Rio de Janeiro while competing at the Summer Olympics. Later, it emerged that the armed men were actually guards at a gas station where Lochte allegedly vandalized a poster, resulting in an apology from him and a 10-month suspension from USA Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Two years later, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended Lochte for 14 months for receiving a “prohibited intravenous infusion” of what he claimed to be vitamins. Lochte had posted a picture of the injection on social media before deleting it.
“It’s about more than times and results,” Lochte said of his foray into coaching. “It’s about helping young men and women build discipline, resilience and confidence that will carry them far beyond the pool. I’ve lived the highs and the challenges of this sport, and I want to use that perspective to guide them, support them and help them reach their full potential in and out of the water.”
Missouri state has long been one of the nation’s best mid-major swimming programs. Its men have won 21 conference championships and its women have won 18 of them, and Collins has been voted the conference’s top coach on 13 occasions.
“We are very excited to welcome Ryan to the coaching staff,” he said. “Beyond his lengthy list of accomplishments as an athlete, Ryan has a work ethic that will translate very well on deck as a coach. When you have the opportunity to bring in one of the best ever in our sport, you do everything you can to make it happen.”
