Ryan Lochte: How Many Gold Medals Will Swimming Sensation Walk Away With?

In the four-year long quest to prove to himself and to the rest of the world that he could beat Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, the new face of U.S. swimming, was the one to come out on top.

As he swam the 400-meter individual medley on the first night, it was evident that all of his hard work, the tireless hours of training, the strongman routines and the more attentive approach to swimming, were all paying off. He pulled well ahead of Phelps and the rest of the field and finished with a time just barely above the world record set by Phelps in Beijing.

Winning the gold was the first step for Lochte who has said on several occasions that this is going to be his Olympic Games. Just like how Phelps dominated in Beijing, Lochte plans and is prepared to do the same in London. With five world titles from 2011, Lochte can also become the first to successfully defend all of the golds won at worlds by winning them at the Olympic Games, something he is more than capable of doing.

With one gold down and at least four races left for Lochte, he could do what Phelps did last year by winning all of the races he entered. He is the gold-medal favorite going forward and could cement his legacy as one of the best of all time with a strong medal run in London.

Men's 200-Meter Individual Medley: Gold

With great fitness and even greater endurance, Lochte dominated the field, pulling away at the last 100 meters of the 400-meter IM. In the 200-meter IM, which is significantly shorter, Lochte probably won't have the same distance between him and the rest of the field. Still, this is one of Lochte's best events and the event in which he is the current world champion and world recorder holder in.

Lochte will battle Phelps in this race and there is no doubt Michael is going to have a much better showing than his fourth-place finish in the 400. He will need to get off to a strong start and can aid himself by finishing better than eighth in the qualifying heats.

For Lochte, however, it is just going to be about swimming his race. He will likely be one of the top qualifiers and as expected, Phelps should be right alongside him. The advantage Lochte will have, however, is that in addition to this being one of his best races, the shorter distance means that Phelps and the rest of the competitors will have less time to make a run on him.

This could also serve as a disadvantage, however, in that the shorter race should benefit Phelps in terms of not letting Lochte get out of his sights and in his ability to put more effort into the finish of the race.

Ultimately, I think this is going to be the closest race for Lochte in the Olympic Games but in the end, he will come away with yet another gold medal.

Men's 200-Meter Backstroke: Gold

Of all of the events of Lochte's program, this is easily the best suited for him to win a gold medal. He is the defending world champion, former world-record holder and defending gold medalist from Beijing in the 200-meter backstroke. In London, there is no reason to doubt he won't win the gold again.

In one of his two individual races without Phelps, Lochte's biggest competition, if you can really call it that in this event, comes in Ryosuke Irie and American, Tyler Clary. Qualifying for the Olympics, both of these two swam times under one minute, fifty-five seconds. No one, however, was close to Lochte's qualifying time of 1:52:96.

In addition to winning another gold in this event, Lochte is going to be out to get his world record back. With the way he is swimming it seems likely that he will leave London with a gold medal in this event and with a new world record.

Men's 200-Meter Freestyle: Silver

When Michael Phelps, who beat Lochte in the 200 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials, made the decision not to swim this event in London, Lochte became the new favorite to take home the gold medal.

In the 200 freestyle, one of Lochte's weaker events, if you can even call it that, the competition is still fierce despite the field missing Phelps. Park Tae Hwan, the defending silver medalist, has been putting up good times all year and you can't count out the world-record holder in Paul Biedermann.

Lochte, however, is the defending world champion in this event and it is very difficult not to like his chances for the gold. He qualified second of all racers and will have a very good lane assignment in the finals. All that being said, if there ends up being one individual race Lochte won't win gold in, it will be this one.

Men's 4x100-Meter Freestyle Relay: Silver

Just like in 2008, it looks like three countries will be contesting for a gold in this relay. Australia is the clear favorite, but France and the U.S. are dark horses that could win the gold.

It was a miraculous finish in 2008 that kept Phelps' hope of eight golds alive. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that will happen again. Although Lochte and Phelps will both be swimming in this relay, Australia is led by their own stars in James Magnussen and James Roberts and France will have a strong team featuring Yannick Agnel.

For Lochte, he just needs for he and Phelps to have a good swim to assure themselves of a medal. It likely will be of the silver variety, but nonetheless it will be another medal for Lochte's London collection.

Men's 4x200-Meter Freestyle Relay: Gold

It will be an upset if the U.S. does not win the gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. They are the clear favorites going into the event and the rest of the competition looks like they will battle it out for silver and bronze.

Coming into this relay, the U.S. has been the dominant team for quite some time. They are the two-time defending gold medalists from both Athens and Beijing and are also the 2011 world champions. Lochte, who has been a fixture of this relay ever since their first gold in Athens, looks to once again figure into the finals.

Barring a minor miracle, the U.S. and Lochte should have no problem winning a gold in their best relay event on the schedule.