In a statement released through his club SwimMAC Carolina on Tuesday, Ryan Lochte confirms that he will not, in fact, be swimming this weekend at the Charlotte Grand Prix.
“It’s disappointing, definitely,” said Lochte. “I was really looking forward to swimming in Charlotte now that it’s my home, in front of all of the SwimMAC fans. I still plan to be at the meet and will do my best to be a good host.”
Team Elite doctor Jason Batley gave Lochte the advice to sit out of this weeken’ds meet. “We are going to exercise precautionary measures this weekend, as his knee continues to bother him,” Batley said. The letter goes on to say that he was experiencing pain in the left knee that was injured in November of 2013 in an encounter with a fan.
“We don’t want him to push through pain if that would be counterproductive to ongoing recovery,” Batley said. “While we want him back quickly, we want him back safely as well.”
This is not the first knee injury that Lochte has had, and while previously he came back stronger than ever from an injury to his other knee, he’s now 29 years old and won’t recover as quickly. He’s already said that he thought maybe he pushed through to his first meet back, the Orlando Grand Prix in February, too quickly, and now team doctors are pulling on the reins ever-so-slightly.
Though it’s easy to presume that there’s a connection, the pain that kept Lochte out of the last session of the Mesa Grand Prix a few weeks ago was described as tightness in his hamstring by SwimMAC head coach David Marsh, as compared to specifically targeting the knee for the absence in Charlotte.
Lochte’s next opportunity to race at a Grand Prix will be in June in Santa Clara, which is expected to be the best-attended Grand Prix of the season. SwimMAC often takes the opportunity to swim at local races, though, so there’s always a chance that we may see Lochte test things again before Santa Clara.
Full SwimMAC press release:
Ryan Lochte will be a host, rather than a competitor, at the Charlotte Grand Prix
Charlotte, NC – May 13, 2014 – Ryan Lochte has made the difficult decision to withdraw from competition at this week’s Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte. At the advice of Dr. Jason Batley, Team Elite physician “we are going to exercise precautionary measures this weekend, as his knee continues to bother him.” Lochte was experiencing pain in the left knee, the same knee that was injured November of last year.
Batley said “We don’t want him to push through pain if that would be counterproductive to ongoing recovery. While we want him back quickly, we want him back safely as well.”
Lochte continues to train with SwimMAC Carolina’s Team Elite, which he joined in October, and will be at the Grand Prix representing SwimMAC and supporting his teammates.
“It’s disappointing, definitely,” said Lochte. “I was really looking forward to swimming in Charlotte now that it’s my home, in front of all of the SwimMAC fans. I still plan to be at the meet and will do my best to be a good host.”
Lochte plans to hold an autograph signing session during the event and details will be released as they develop. The Charlotte Grand Prix gets underway at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in uptown Charlotte and runs through Sunday evening.
Smart move all around
I’m glad Lochte’s taking his time and doing things smart. He is fortunately far enough along in his career that every Grand prix showing does not have to happen, and he can take some well earned rest to heal.
If I had in front of me the crazy fan who jumped over Ryan, I would tell her a few words! 😡
Amen, Bobo!
I have done numerous swim clinics with various olympians. Ryan came to our town last month and did 3 sessions of clinics for about 7 hrs. He was terrific and gave one of the best clinics ever. He was easy going and just great with the kids. During our break we had a session with our infants showing their swimming and Ryan could have used that time as a break but he didn’t. He came right over and watched and encouraged the little swimmers! At the last meet when he scratched he also went to the meet and signed autographs. Having been in London and watched him compete over the years Ryan is a great sport who loves swimming and… Read more »
It speaks well of him that he will still be at the meet to support his team and be present for fans. I wonder if that was his idea or from his coaches?
Thirteenthwind – Lochte is a lot of things, and some people like him and some don’t, but one thing he’s always been is very generous with his fans.
Of course, I of all people wouldn’t pretend like he doesn’t get a benefit from it. Home pool, lots of kids would’ve been disappointed had he not shown up at all…it’s not only a generous move, it’s a smart business move for him to show up and sign autographs.
lochte is a stand up guy. and even though some people would think he is not very bright. story goes he had a photo shoot with my sister, she chatted with him about me being a swimmer. 2 years later I met him for the first time at Austin grand prix, and he remembered my name. after our race he even chatted with me for a good solid 5-10 min. plus when you start giving away gold medals that you’ve won at world championships your pretty boss.
Get better soon Ryan.
No mention how he aggravated it?! I doubt it was in the pool…just a gut feeling.
It actually says how he aggravated it, with a fan. And if you don’t know the story a fan pretty much ran and jumped on him unexpectedly and he fell backwards
I know how he originally injured it, but wonder how he aggravated that he had to pull out of the meet. just heard some chatter that it didn’t happen at practice