Ryan Lochte: Predictions for Swimmer's Remaining Races

Ryan Lochte came into these 2012 Olympics as the best swimmer in the world and a favorite in virtually every event he was set to compete in.  Thus far, Lochte has not disappointed.  

The 27-year-old won gold in his first individual race—the 400 IM—and has helped the U.S. to a gold-medal finish in the 4x200m freestyle and a silver-medal finish in the 4x100m freestyle.  The lone event that Lochte did not medal in was the 200m freestyle in which he finished fourth.  

Lochte has just two events left and is expected to contend for gold in both.  Here are my predictions for Lochte in his final two events.  

200m Backstroke

The backstroke is Lochte's most dominant stroke and he showed it in today's semifinal.  After cruising for three laps, Lochte flipped the switched on after his third turn and burned past the competition, cruising to a first-place finish.  

After watching the backstroke clinic that Lochte put on, there's no reason to doubt the Lochtenator in this race.  If Lochte goes all out for anything more than half of a lap on Friday, don't be surprised if he breaks Aaron Piersol's world record of 1:51.92.

Even if he does not break the world-record, expect a gold medal from Lochte in this race.   

200m Individual Medley

This race may not be as easily dominated by Lochte as the 200 backstroke is, but he is still expected to contend for gold and, at the very least, win silver or bronze.  He is the world-record holder in this event with a time of of 1:54.00.  

While Lochte hasn't been swimming at such a feverish pace in this race during the qualifying round and semifinals, he has shown the ability to turn it on at any point.  Nevertheless, Lochte did finish first in the semifinal race with a time of 1:56.13.  

Lochte's biggest competition in this event will be none other than the all-time winningest olympian—Micheal Phelps.  Phelps finished just behind Lochte in the semifinal with a third-place time of 1:57.11. 

While I expect this to be an extremely competitive race, Lochte just seems too fast to be beaten. Expect Lochte to beat Phelps once again and put a fitting end to his 2012 Olympic run with another gold medal.