Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte

I recently interviewed Ricky Williams on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is one of the greatest swimmers of all time. Ryan Lochte is a six time Olympic gold medalist with 12 Olympic medals in total, second among American men across all sports, only to Michael Phelps. Ryan, thank you for joining us.

Ryan: Thank you for having me.

Adam: Ryan, you were born in and grew up right outside of Rochester, and moved to Florida when you were 12 so your dad could coach a swimming team. Your mom was also a swim coach, and you spent much of your childhood in and around the pool. But you're anything but the serious singularly focused kid that we often think about when we picture Olympic athletes in the making. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What were the key experiences and lessons that got you on track to become an Olympic gold medalist?

Ryan: Well, I mean, you said it. I guess you could say I'm a rare breed. I'm definitely not your normal Olympian. See, the way I figured, when I was a little kid, is that swimming is a sport that I love, that I'm very passionate about. But I don't let it define who I am. Like, that's not my life. Like, especially now that I have a family of my own. Now I really know what's important in life. So growing up, I mean, swimming was just a sport that I loved to do. I did every other sport possible. I was always outside running around. I had so much energy, like my parents couldn't keep me in the house, I couldn't stay still, like I was just all over the place, just being a kid. So I mean, that's pretty much how I grew up. But there was something like me playing all those sports, there's something about whenever I went back to the pool, or jumped in the pool, everything disappeared. I could be having the worst day of my life. And I jump in that pool and everything just disappears. And I'm just calm. I'm back at like, it's like my home. It's like my Zen, I guess you can say. And swimming just came so easy to me like picking up new techniques, or new strokes at an early age. It just was easy to pick it up. I can pick it up. And I was very competitive. I mean, I remember breakfast meals, racing, my dad in a milk chugging contest be like I can beat you, dad. And like so it started at a young age. And that just carried on through like all the sports that I did through my swimming career.

Adam: What was that turning point when you went from being -we'll call it a goof off - to being someone who is focused on competing at the highest levels?

Ryan: I mean, I guess I mean, I mean, you've read the headlines, and every day I don't think I stopped being a goofball until about my kids, when my kids were born. I guess you could say I was a late bloomer in that field. But yeah, I mean, I was just living life to the fullest. And I never took anything too seriously, especially as a little kid. And I had that separation of like, when I went to the - don't get me wrong - when I went to the swimming pool, I would beat your ass. I would like I'm all in 110% focus, like you're not messing me up. And I was just really driven. But as soon as I left that pool deck, I stopped talking about swimming. I didn't talk about swimming outside the pool deck. I didn't call my dad or mom like, coach, their coach on the pool deck. And then as soon as we left their mom and dad, we never talked about swimming. So I had that two different lifestyle, which I really think helped me throughout my swim career and why I was able to swim for so long, all the way up until like 37 months. I'm still swimming now. So all the way up until now that second lifestyle, being able to leave swimming at the pool deck really helped me.

Adam: And I think the lessons that you shared, I think the narrative you shared, your journey - there's something there for anyone to learn from, whether you're passionate about swimming or passionate about anything else. The importance of finding balance, the importance of having hobbies, having interests beyond whatever it is that you're focused on. If you love something great, go all in while you're all in. But to the extent you can also enjoy life and find things to do beyond what you're focused on doing, it will help you avoid burnout. And in your case, Ryan, you've clearly been able to avoid burnout.

Ryan: Oh, yeah. And I think it was just the thing that my dad said he was like, if you're ever gonna do something, you're gonna go all in, you're not gonna half-ass anything. So when you do something, you stick with it. And then when you're done with, say, like soccer, I did soccer for nine years. And then it got to a point where I was going to finish the season, because I was just done with it. So I finished the season, and I stopped playing soccer. So I went all in. And the same thing with swimming, I went all in every time I go to the swimming pool, I go all in. I don't leave anything behind. And I think that's why I was able to get all those medals and everything because I was able to outwork everyone, you could put me in the same pool as anyone and I will go until my eyeballs pop, like I just there is no stopping me. And when people start getting fatigued in practice, I feed off that. I'd be like, man, they're hurting, too, I'm hurting. But I'm gonna use this energy. Like, I got to find something, I got to dig something deep down inside me and pull it out. And I just kept doing that every day. And it became so easy that it was like automatic. I can easily turn it on like go mode every time I went into the pool.

Adam: You mentioned your dad as an early and key influence in your life. A close friend of your dad’s was your coach in college and your coach while you were in the Olympics Gregg Troy. And I wanted to ask you, in your experience, what do you believe makes a great coach and what do you believe makes a great leader?

Ryan: A great coach is you have to be able to listen to your students. For like my dad, he had to listen to his swimmers like he couldn't just coach like all in one big group. Like he had to actually listen to him because each person works in different ways. Like Joey next to me, he can't get yelled at. Because he won't get motivated from that. For me, if I get yelled at, I'm probably going to shit my pants, but I'm going to use as like, alright, I can't let this happen again, and I fix it. So like you have to know your swimmers basically as a coach, and you have to be able to learn, like, my dad is retired, but he's still learning the sport. And he's going on 70. So he's, it's never too late to learn. And no matter how many kids you produced, that went to the Olympics, or medals, like there's still you can still learn from coaches and students.

Adam: Ryan, I love it. Great leaders are great listeners. One size doesn't fit all. You need to understand the people you're leading. You need to understand each person you're leading and customize your style to who he or she is as an individual. And finally, great leaders are lifelong learners. The best leaders are those who are dedicated to continually improving, continually growing, continually getting better no matter how much you know, you never know enough. 

Ryan: Yep. Always Learning.

Adam: You've not only been the recipient of great coaching and great mentorship throughout your career, but you've also been a mentor to many swimmers, including an early guest on this podcast, Ryan Murphy, who's one of the greatest swimmers in the world. And you met Ryan when he was 14 years old. Can you take listeners back to that experience? And what are your best tips on the topic of mentorship?

Ryan: I mean, that was a long time ago. I mean, I could barely… I'm getting old I can barely remember what I did yesterday, but I mean anything anytime I meet someone like same with like Caleb Dressel, he has a picture of me and him I did a swim clinic back where he used to train and there's a picture of me like flexing and him flexing as a little kid. And now we like took another picture. And he of course he's a lot bigger than me. But it's like how everything has happened. Like me them looking up to me. And then now it's like, they're I'm competing against them. Like I'm racing them. They're beating me but racing. It's just a full circle is pretty amazing to see these little kids that like I've done swim clinics for that. I'm hoping that they took what like I've taught them and helped them in their own swimming career and to see them blossom, I guess you can say and get all these metals. It's just It's freakin amazing. I love it.

Adam: You've clearly been able to make such an impact on swimmers who have gone on to compete at the highest levels and also on swimmers who have just enjoyed swimming as a hobby but you've motivated them and you've in some way inspired them to continue swimming and continue competing. What advice do you have for anyone listening who has the opportunity to make an impact and whatever it is they're doing on how to become a better mentor and how to become more impactful?

Ryan: You can never be acceptable or like what you get, you always have to want more. Because if I if I just wanted to get a gold medal at the Olympics, for instance, my career would have just ended right there when I first got my gold medal, but you always want more, because you always want a purpose for going waking up every day on to do something, you want to strive harder, you want to become the best you can. And if you don't do that, the only way you can do that is if you don't have goals. So you have to have goals, you have to have dreams, because they can become reality. You just have to know the sacrifices. Know the commitment and determination has to take every day you can't there's an especially swimming is one of those sports where you can't take a day off. Like you have to make sacrifices. Like I couldn't go to the beach and go surfing and everything in Daytona, like with all my friends, I went to the swimming pool because I had a dream I had a purpose. I wanted a goal. So there's a lot of sacrificing and commitment that you have to do in order to reach those goals that you want those dreams. 

Adam: What was your routine as you were training for the Olympics? What did you do to get into peak physical condition?

Ryan: Just bust my ass. I mean, to be honest, like, like I said, in the swimming pool, I can outswim, I can outtrain train anyone. I just go beast mode nonstop, until practice is over. And then I started learning how to do stuff outside the pool. Back in my early years, I was doing like not just lifting like I was doing Olympic lifting. But I wanted more. I always wanted more. I always wanted to keep doing something keep bettering myself. So I started picking up strong man-like workouts like tossing kegs over my head flipping huge tires. So I started doing that just because it was like, all the fast-twitch muscles that you need for those to do those kinds of exercises. I started relating it towards my swimming. And I just became so much powerful, so much better when I went into the swimming pool. And it was just because I was I wanted more I was thinking outside the box.

Adam: Most people listening to this conversation aren't going to be competing in the Olympics, aren't thinking about how am I going to win an Olympic gold medal. But everyone's trying to figure out how can I become my best self physically, mentally in my life, in my career. And I want to ask you, starting off on the physical side of things, what are your best tips for anyone listening on how to improve their physical fitness and overall health?

Ryan: That's funny that you said that because I do swim clinics all the time for the kids. And I always at the end of my swim clinic, I always after my talk, I say I have three things that I've done that I found like you can say guidelines rules that I've done throughout my whole entire life. And if you do these three things you'll be successful. One is to listen to your coach make could be listened to your parents, your swim coach, the head doctor, like whatever it is, you just listen to your coach, person that's teaching you and actually listen to him. The second one is to make sure you probably another really big one is make sure you set short term and long term goals. I set short-term goals every day, I set goals every day in practice, whether it's making sure I streamline tight or off each wall or I take five dolphin kicks off every time I flip turn because those little goals are gonna add up. And then you have that big goal where mine was a little kid was going to the Olympics, getting a gold medal and breaking a world record. So you have a purpose every time you wake up. And that's just for me what I did. But you can use that same method to anyone that wants to become a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, like it doesn't matter. Like you always have the short-term goals and those long-term goals. So you always have a purpose when you wake up. And then third one, the most important one is to have fun. I mean, life that's what life is just having fun enjoying the journey, and a lot of people get caught up into. They're like, Well, I'm just using swimming as an example is people get so caught up into the swimming world that they don't know what's like, what's outside the sport, because they're so like, focused. And then when the swim is over, they're like, scratching their head like man, what did I miss? There's so much more to life. So enjoy the journey. It's amazing. And now that I have like kids and a family, I'm just like, I don't know how life can get any better than this, like this journey is freakin amazing is all because of what swimming has gave me. Swimming gave me this platform to go. Full throttle. And now I have two kids that are crazier than ever. I love them. I have a beautiful wife, house over our head. Couldn't have asked for more. But those three things that I said, I found that ever since I was a little kid, until now, and you can use that not in sports, you can use it as anything. Right?

Adam: I love your perspective. And I had a guest on the podcast, Chris Tomlin. He's one of the most successful musicians out there. And I asked Chris, you've sold out just about every concert that you've performed in four years. And my question was, how do you prepare yourself to perform in high stakes high-pressure moments? When everyone's out there watching you, what do you do? And he said to me, I've learned over the years that the most important thing you can do is just have fun. Everyone out there watching me perform is there for one reason, and one reason only. And that's to have fun, they're going there, they're at Madison Square Garden or they're at Staples Center or they're at whatever venue because they're there to have fun. So I should be there to have fun. And that completely changed his perspective on those moments that were no longer high-pressure situations. They were experiences that he was excited about being a part of.

Ryan: Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, you're there to have fun. And then once you start thinking like that, everything, like the training and everything that comes but like if you're not having fun doing it, what's the point? You got to enjoy life because your life is too short, you never know when it's gonna end. So you just got to enjoy every moment as you can.

Adam: Do you have any other tips for listeners on how to perform under pressure? You, like Chris Tomlin, like so many guests on this podcast - there have been a number of other Olympic gold medalists who have been on - what advice do you have on how anyone listening can most effectively perform in those high pressure, high stakes moments?

Ryan: Well just giving you a broad perspective, it's the training that you do leading up to it. For like a singer - it's like all the singing classes or the like all the things that you did the warm-ups or whatever, I don't know what singers do all those kinds of things that they do, leading up to their event, their performance. Same with athletes, you train every day, for the Olympics. So you do this every day. And you just keep doing it over and over. It should become automatic, like you shouldn't even have when the performance comes. You shouldn't even have to think about what do I do? Like how do I say like, because you've done it so many times it should be automatic. And that's why I was able to when I go to the Olympics, not get nervous. I've never gotten nervous for a race ever. I treat every race like the exact same when I was eight years old, trying to get a little bag of candy if I won my event, like I treated every race the exact same because I was there having fun because I already prepped myself. All through those every day of beating my body up, I prepped myself. So when the performance when his day was come to like shine, I was already there because I've done it. I've done it over and over and over now. All I got to do is have fun. And that's what racing was to me is having fun.

Adam: And something that you shared and made quite clear is that in your journey, there was a no off day mindset every day all in whether competing for the Olympics, whether I'm training in an off-year, I'm trying every single day to become better. How did you motivate yourself on the days that you didn't feel motivated? And what are your best tips on the topic of motivation?

Ryan: I think my biggest thing was I never wanted to be the person being well what if. I never wanted to be that person. So I never want to be like, what if I didn't miss that Sunday? Would I be better, like, I never wanted to be that person, so I never did. So I just kept on going. I kept on it. That's where I go back to those three things that I've said, short term and long term goals every day, you should have a short term goal, whether it's, you know what, I'm going to wake up today, and I'm going to make someone feel like a million dollars, like, I'm going to open the door and say, You look very pretty today or something out of the order, you do something like that. Every day, you set little goals every day, you're gonna turn up really damn good.

Adam: Now that you're not trying to compete for the Olympics, you're not worried about becoming an Olympic gold medalist. You're still trying to maintain as high-level performance as you can, physically, athletically, you're still an athlete, once an athlete, always an athlete, what do you do to take care of yourself? And what can anyone do to reach peak physical performance,

Ryan: Being the age that I am, and still trying to go to the swimming pool and be like that competitor that I am, and race these kids that are proud of half my age and keep up with them. And knowing that I have two kids that will not stop running around. And when they see daddy, it's Daddy playtime. And that's all it is. And doing that and still practicing at the highest level. Like I was starting to get to the point where I was getting drained, like my energy levels were just drained. My cellular levels like were dropping, like I was fatiguing all the time. I was like, What can I do to help me? So I found this product, Tru Niagen. And since I've been taking it, I have more energy than these little punks. I'm running around circles around them. And it is amazing because my cellular energy has been skyrocketing. Like I can go swim with them in the morning, train as hard as I can go back home. No naps, like and just play with my kids all day. And then go back to the afternoon practice. And still whoop em/

Adam: As successful as you were in the pool, six gold medals, 12 Olympic medals overall, many people know you for the big international controversy during the 2016 Rio Olympics. And that, in some ways, has overshadowed your incredible athletic achievements. There was a period of time when you were public enemy number one. How did you navigate that? How did you navigate your lowest toughest moments? And what are the best lessons you learn from that experience?

Ryan: Um, yeah, I mean, those were the toughest moments in my life. And I went from hero to zero in a blink of an eye. And just like that, no matter what I've accomplished in the pool or out, it went all to waste in a matter of minutes. But I mean, I did it to myself. Like I have no one else to blame but me but everything you do, you learn from. And I learned, even though it was the hardest mistake, I've learned, I learned from it. I wouldn't be the same person I am today if that didn't happen. I would still be that goofball, like, nonchalant, not caring about anything, person. But that woke me up. My eyes got like, I got woken up and I was like, holy crap. It's time to smell the coffee. Like, what am I doing with my life? And then I just started bettering myself every day. Like I was like, man, I gotta just, I got to do my same things that I do for the swimming pool. I got to take it outside of the swimming pool now. So I started working on myself, I met my wife, we have two beautiful kids. I'm like, man, this is the direction I'm going. So everything that happens in life, like you have to just learn from it the goods and the bads. And one biggest thing, lesson that I learned from what happened in ‘16 was you know, in life, you're gonna get knocked down. I mean, that's just the way it is. But it's how you get up and keep moving forward. That's what really is going to determine who you are. And I found that I got up. I mean, yes, my wife had to slap me over the head and be like, pick yourself up that this is not who you are. You're better than this. But I did and every day I kept on bettering myself and this is the person I am now. And yeah, but it was a life lesson that I learned and it's hard trust me. It is hard when you get knocked down. You give up and a lot of people - if you fail, you give up cuz you're like, man, like, this sucks, like you're just depressed, but you have to keep fighting, you got to be a fighter. You got to dig deep down inside. And that's why I go back to swimming is because swimming has taught me all these lessons. Like, when I was getting fatigued in practice, I had to dig down deep inside and pull something out of me to keep fighting to keep moving forward. And that's what I did in this situation. Like, I was so depressed and down, like I was like, but I'm a fighter, like, I gotta keep fighting. I gotta keep bettering myself, I got to show everyone like, that wasn't me, like, this is me who I am right now. So I had to dig down deep inside, pull it out, and just keep fighting and keep moving forward.

Adam: Anyone listening to this conversation is facing or is going to face moments of challenge, tough times. What advice do you have for them on how to navigate those moments? What are clear, tangible things that anyone can do to overcome the hardest times in their lives and in their careers?

Ryan: Get a special companion. Mine was my wife. She seriously is my rock. She's helped me through everything, through the thick and thin, she went through it with me. She was like my guardian angel that motivated me, that little angel being like, hey, keep going, keep going, keep fighting, you're better than this, you're better than this. I always stayed around positive people. I never let like if someone was having like being like, man this day, so it's like, I've removed myself. And I still to this day, I don't want to hear that negative stuff, like, get away from me. And just keep being positive and keep hanging around people that uplift you, that make you happy. And that goes to the third thing, having fun, you want to be around fun people, you want to be happy, you want to be positive. You don't want to be negative, you don't want to get down. So just keep moving forward.

Adam: Ryan, what can anyone do to become more successful personally and professionally?

Ryan: I don't know. Oh, I don't know. I mean, I guess you can go back to the things like make setting goals, like every day when you wake up instead of like, turning on the TV, like get a notepad and write down like what how can I make myself better today? What can I do to help other people? I mean, you always want to help other people as well. Because if you help other people, they're going to help you in some other point way. It's just a circle how it goes. So just be positive and just stay on your path, I guess. I don't know. I'm still trying to figure this out.

Adam: I think we all are, which is why I ask it. What can anyone do to develop a winning mindset?

Ryan: Hmm, I don't know. I mean, I think it was just like how I was born. I just hated to lose. I just freaking hated it. Like, I act like, oh, it's alright. But man, I'm pissed. I just lost even if I play like, shoot hoops. And like my, my wife, like made a shot that I didn't. I'm like, I'm pissed. But oh, good shot, honey. Yeah. And then two hours later, I'll be up there hitting the same shot for an hour because I just don't - I hate to lose. It's just I guess, I don't know, I think at an early age people, children like playing sports, I think they develop it the quickest. Because you start learning like you get in that competitive edge, that competitive mode, and then you start learning like winning and not winning, and you start to win, love it or hate it.

Adam: You need to be dedicated to becoming your best self. You can't accept failure, you need to be focused on winning you in a lesson you shared repeatedly over the course of this interview. You need to set goals and be focused on reaching them. And when you don't reach your goals, when you screw up, when you make mistakes, which is going to happen whether you make little mistakes or whether you make big mistakes - get up. Don't worry about the fact that you failed, but acknowledge the fact that you failed. Learn from it, get up and try again. And in your case, whether it was in the swimming pool, whether it was shooting hoops, or whether it was learning life lessons, it has been something that has been a consistent part of your journey.

Ryan: Yes. And you never… yes, yes, yeah, I mean, you said it perfectly, yes exactly.

Adam: Ryan, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become a better leader?

Ryan: You have to not be afraid to help others. A lot of people are selfish. And then they think being leading like, oh, I'm just doing this for me. But if you help other people around you, they're going to - their levels of intensity are going to be boosted. I'm going to go back to swimming. So I'm always like the team captain or whatever they always look up to me - maybe I'm the oldest, I'm the fastest or whatever. But I motivate everyone in that swimming pool like next to me even if like I know I could beat him I'm like hey, get up, come on you got this one more let's do it is all out all you got everything you got race me Come on. And I do this to everyone because you help everyone around you. They're gonna, their levels of intensity are going to get boosted and that's going to help you. And I think that's what a good leader is you want to help just not yourself. You want to help everyone.

Adam: Ryan, thank you for all the great advice and thank you for being a part of Thirty Minute Mentors. 

Ryan: Of course Thank you.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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