Olympic Swimming 2012: Why Ryan Lochte Will Rebound on Day 3

The Americans had the lead in the men’s 4x100-meter medley. Nathan Adrian and Cullen Jones had done their part. Even the biggest enigma of this Olympics so far, Michael Phelps, had a brilliant swim that preserved the American lead. All eyes were locked on Ryan Lochte to see if he could close.

Another 100 meters later and the U.S. lost the gold.

Just like that, Lochte isn’t who we thought he was. Right?

Not so fast, folks. This is the same swimmer who dominated the competition to a 400 IM gold by two whole body lengths. Americans are a what have you done for me lately? culture and tend to forget the past. Even if it only happened a day ago.

Swimming aficionados would note that Lochte is not known for sprint freestyle. Yet, for some reason, Team USA head coach Gregg Troy made the switch to have Lochte as the anchor leg. That decision tasted like horseradish, and it showed in the pool.

Even the gold-medalist himself thought he may have been unprepared for the role: "The 100 free, I don't really swim it. I haven't swum it in a long time," Lochte said, according to The Associated Press (h/t si.com). "You would think doing distance events, I wouldn't get tired. But sprinting takes a lot out of you."

It was a knee-jerk reaction to Lochte’s dominant performance from the previous day. Nevertheless, Lochte can get to what he does best: long-distance individual races.

He had the second best qualifying time in the 200-meter freestyle (1:46:45) and he hasn’t even hit his peak times yet. It will certainly be a struggle against China’s Sun Yang, who promises to challenge Lochte behind a strong qualifying time (1:46:24).

When Lochte puts it into high gear, though, Yang will have to be satisfied with the silver. The American has 1,200 meters on his tires; he’s been saving his best for the races that count.

Tomorrow's another day.