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Making of the sex symbol
After finishing three hours of laps, sprints and weighted strokes at the University of Florida's Olympic-size pool here, Ryan Lochte, the record-setting, gold medal-winning swimmer, was showing the briefest glimmer of fatigue.
After finishing three hours of laps, sprints and weighted strokes at the University of Florida's Olympic-size pool here, Ryan Lochte, the record-setting, gold medal-winning swimmer, was showing the briefest glimmer of fatigue.
"I just want to be done," he said on the drive to a nearby Hilton. He was to spend hours shooting a commercial for a cellphone company, posing shirtless on a locker room set. The next day would bring a double session of exhausting practices to rack up the 70,000 metres he swims weekly in preparation for the London Olympics. And then more shoots, more training, a gruelling schedule of never-ending shirtlessness.
"If I do really good at the Olympics," he said, "it's going to be 10 times worse. Balancing all that stuff out'" with swimming, he added, "just drains me".
Lochte is laid-back, so slacker-ready that he rides his scooter when walking his dog. "'I'm one of the laziest people,'" he'd said, grinning, "outside of, like, working out."
Packed schedule
Right, that. Even if his muscle-bound 6-foot-2 frame and sculptured abs weren't evidence of his work ethic, the last few months have been a test of Lochte's supposed laziness. In addition to training for the Games, where he plans to face off with the sport's reigning champ, Michael Phelps, he has been on a breakneck tour of national appearances and promotions, making him this Olympics' all-American swim hunk.
With his twinkling blue eyes, aquiline nose and dimpled smile, Lochte, 27, is being groomed to be a breakout Olympic superstar, with millions in corporate sponsorships to match his athletic accomplishments. He is already featured in ad campaigns for Gatorade, Gillette and Nissan. A fitness DVD is also forthcoming. NBC, which will broadcast the Games, has referred to Lochte as "'arguably the face" of the American team on its blog.
Calling him a sex symbol is hardly a stretch. There he is on the cover of this month's Vogue, arms linked with his fellow Olympic hopefuls Hope Solo, a soccer player, and Serena Williams, the tennis star. Inside, he is next to supermodel Karlie Kloss. And Men's Health recently ranked him No. 1 on its list of best summer bodies.
