LOS ANGELES – Ryan Lochte is returning to USA Swimming competition this week for the first time since his 10-month suspension for his behavior at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics ended.
The 32-year-old new father will compete at the L.A. Invitational, which begins Thursday on the Southern California campus where he trains and now represents Trojan Swim Club.
The six-time Olympic gold medalist is entered in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles and 200 individual medley. His times of 48.16 seconds in the 100 free and 1 minute, 54.00 seconds in the IM are top-seeded.
Lochte was ineligible to compete at the recent U.S. nationals, which kept him from qualifying for the world championships beginning July 23 in Hungary. His suspension ended June 30.
After returning from Rio, Lochte moved his training base from North Carolina to Los Angeles, where he appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.” He became a first-time father last month when son Caiden was born.
Lochte’s first meet since Rio was in a Masters competition in April, which wasn’t sanctioned by USA Swimming. He won multiple events at the short-course meet in Riverside, California.
Lochte was suspended last summer after he and three other swimmers vandalized a gas station during the Rio Games and then said they had been robbed at gunpoint. The scandal in Rio overshadowed the final days of the games and the ever-changing versions of events that Lochte provided cost him major sponsors.
