Ryan Lochte reveals details of serious car accident in November 2023

Ryan Lochte reveals details of serious car accident in November 2023: ‘So grateful’

Six-time Olympic champion Ryan Lochte has revealed that he suffered serious injuries in a car accident last November while picking up his children from school. Lochte, 39, told the presenter Kyle Millis of the Athlete’s Only podcast about his accident earlier this year, but asked that the news not be shared until his recovery was complete.

Lochte explained that he had collided with a garbage truck parked on the street. When the car in front of him swerved to avoid the truck, Lochte had no time to perform the same maneuver and crashed into the corner of the truck, causing serious injuries. Lochte learned that most similar accidents end in death, so he considered himself lucky.

“My friends who were driving home after picking up their kids tried to pick me up,” Lochte said. “(Investigators) said, ‘He’s dead. He’s not breathing. He’s dead.’ Blood was pouring out of my head. I still have some stitches in there. I broke my femur. My femur is completely broken in half. My car is a total loss.”

In the months that followed, Lochte went to a lot of physical therapy so that he could walk again. In the podcast interview, he explained that he doesn’t normally consider himself an overly religious person, but given the aftermath of the accident, he said, “God was watching me and he said, ‘Your time hasn’t come yet.'” Lochte added that he had never been so scared.

“I still get scared when I get in the car to go to physical therapy. I still have visions of the accident. I still have visions of white lights flashing in my eyes,” Lochte said. He paused, unable to contain his emotions. “I didn’t know I was going to wake up and see my family again. When I wake up, I’m so grateful. In the blink of an eye, your life can be over. I’m so grateful no one else was hurt but me.”

Lochte has not competed in three years since finishing seventh in the 200m individual medley at his last Olympic qualifying events, but noted that the accident had prompted him to give up swimming at the suggestion of Gregg Troyhis longtime coach at the University of Florida. Troy noted that swimming would help with physical therapy, so Lochte started swimming again “once or twice a week.” Troy suggested that Lochte could eventually break a Masters world record, but Lochte insisted that might not happen anytime soon.

Over the course of his extensive international career, which spanned four Olympic Games, Lochte reached the podium 12 times, including individual gold medals in the 200m backstroke in 2008 and the 400m individual medley in 2012. Lochte also won four consecutive world titles in the 200m individual medley (in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015) and remains the world record holder in the event with a time of 1:54.00.