AFP, Omaha :
Ryan Lochte’s dream of making a fifth Olympics ended Friday with a seventh-place finish in the 200m medley at the US Olympic swimming trials.
Lochte, whose 12 Olympic medals include six golds from his four prior Olympics, was never a factor in the final won by Michael Andrew in 1min 55.44sec.
Sixth after the opening butterfly leg, he trailed home in lane seven as Andrew set a blistering pace, fading slightly but still finishing comfortably ahead of Chase Kalisz, who was second in 1:56.97.
Lochte, whose world record of 1:54.00 set at the 2011 World Championships still stands, finished in 1:59.67.
As he climbed out of the pool a dejected Lochte was embraced by Andrew and Kalisz.
Then there were hugs for Lochte’s wife, Kayla, who was poolside with their 4-year-old son Caiden and 2-year-old daughter Liv.
Lochte’s longtime US Olympic teammate Michael Phelps made his way down from the stands for another consolatory embrace.
“He’s a legend in the water,” Andrew said of Lochte, who at 36 was seeking to become the oldest man to make a US Olympic swimming team. “He’s done some incredible things.
“It’s an honor to be in the water with him. I wish the best for him.”
The 200m medley was Lochte’s last chance to qualify for Tokyo. In his only other event this week he failed to advance from the heats of the 200m freestyle.
Lochte won silver in the 200m medley in London in 2012 and was fifth in 2016 in Rio, where the athlete’s Games ended amid scandal after a drunken late-night episode after which he was found to have fabricated a story about a robbery.
Sponsors fled and Lochte was suspended for 10 months, a punishment that was followed by a 14-month ban for receiving a banned intravenous infusion of vitamins in May 2018.
It was that year Lochte sought treatment for alcohol abuse, deciding that his life “needed a change.”
