Lochte wins 200 IM at US nationals after 14-month ban
Aug 4, 2019, 7:28 PM
LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 30: Olympian Ryan Lochte swims in the pool at the "O" theater as he and dancer Cheryl Burke rehearse for their "Dancing with the Stars" performance with the cast of "O by Cirque du Soleil" at the Bellagio on September 30, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Cirque du Soleil)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Cirque du Soleil)
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Lochte won the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. national championships, fresh off a 14-month ban.
The 12-time Olympic medalist touched in 1 minute, 57.76 seconds on Sunday — 1.07 ahead of runner-up Shaine Casas — to earn his first national title since 2014. Lochte’s time was quicker than his time-trial effort of 1:57.88 in the event four days earlier, which didn’t toward qualifying for the national team.
It was the lone victory and only final of the five-day meet for Lochte, who turned 35 a day earlier. He finished 37th in the 200 freestyle preliminaries, fourth in the C final of the 100 butterfly, and scratched the B final of the 100 backstroke.
Lochte was competing for the first time since the recent end of a 14-month suspension for receiving an infusion of vitamin B-12 above the allowable limit.
