Ryan Lochte seeks redemption in Missouri State swimming coach position

Next month, former Florida Gators swimmer and 12-time Olympic Medal winner Ryan Lochte will depart Gainesville for a $30,000-a-year assistant teaching job with Missouri State swimming.

Well, that, and a recent begin.

Lochte’s story, informed at size final month by the New York Post, highlights the hazards of dependancy, despair and poisonous relationships.

It did not should be this manner. In 2007, I interviewed Lochte when he adorned the duvet of Gainesville Magazine, a former Gainesville Sun publication. He was 22 years outdated then, with matinee-idol seems and two Olympic medals already in his pocket, to not point out seven nationwide titles, seven SEC titles and 24 All-American honors with UF.

During Florida‘s Camelot years, when UF gained back-to-back nationwide titles in basketball in 2006 and 2007 and soccer titles in 2006 and 2008, Lochte was as large a star on campus as Tim Tebow and Joakim Noah. But former UF swim coach Gregg Troy warned of Lochte’s ascension into the limelight again then, involved with how Lochte’s out-of-the-pool actions impacted his coaching.

Lochte went on to win 10 extra Olympic medals, together with a gold and world document within the 200-meter backstroke on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (1:56.53). He additionally starred in a actuality TV present on E! in 2013, which documented his Joe Namath-like life as bachelor on University Avenue in Gainesville. It lasted simply 5 episodes.

How former Florida swimmer Ryan Lochte fell into despair, substance abuse

The fall from grace for Lochte began the 2016 video games in Rio, when he was charged with a false declare of a theft after vandalizing a fuel station restroom with U.S. Olympic teammate Jimmy Feigen. Witness studies claimed Lochte was drunk on the time.

In 2018, Lochte was suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for 14 months for receiving a “prohibited intravenous infusion.” Then, in 2021, Lochte did not qualify for his fifth Olympic Games.

That’s when Lochte fell right into a deep despair, which impacted his marriage. He divorced from his ex-wife Kayla Rae Reid in 2025. The couple now have cut up custody of their three kids, Caiden (8), Liv (6) and Georgia (2).

Lochte additionally turned again to alcohol and medicines after a near-fatal automotive wreck 2023.

“I just did it to escape the hell that I was living in,” Lochte informed The Post. “It was largely weed and cocaine. Yeah, it’s horrible. I take a look at myself now and I’m identical to, what the hell was I ever pondering?”

But Lochte has found a new lease on life since starting a relationship with Molly Gillihan, whom he met in Gainesville while taking his kids to school. Lochte says he’s now clean and sober and is moving with Gillihan to Missouri to be closer to her family. He still plans to return to Florida once a month to visit his children.

Why Florida swimmer Ryan Lochte deserves a second chance

For Lochte, who will turn 42 in August, plenty of life remains on the runway to write a new chapter.

As a society, we often misjudge addiction as a character flaw rather than what it truly is − a medical issue. There are hereditary components.

Addiction touches countless lives and families. It’s touched mine.

Maybe that’s why I have a soft spot for Lochte, for second chances, for those who display their flaws on the most public of stages, falling down only to get back up again.

If Lochte can teach a swimmer in Missouri not to make the choices he made, to understand the nature of addiction and its pitfalls, he will have achieved a feat as notable as all those medals he won decades ago.

Let’s hope he does. Let’s hope he finds happiness, back in the pool, back to the sport he loves.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat author. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.