SWIMMING RUMORS & GOSSIP

British swimmer Jack Burnell and his coaches legitimately thought Burnell was a front-runner in last year’s 10 km open-water event in Rio. But he got downgraded from third to fifth, and then disqualified, as he received a pair of yellow cards. The first occurred when Burnell believed there was no one even close enough to interfere with him, and the second came when defending champion...

Remember Ryan Lochte, the American swimmer who became the center of controversy at last summer’s Rio Olympics after he claimed he was robbed at gunpoint?Well, criminal charges were initially filed against Lochte for filing a false report, and we hadn’t heard a whole lot about what happened with those charges over the last year. That is, until this week, when the charges against...

Becoming an Olympian is an incredible honor. Winning a gold medal is even more prestigious. Setting an Olympic record while doing so is the apex of athletic achievement. Tyler Clary knows the feeling. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Clary won gold in the 200-meter backstroke with an incredible time of 1:53.41. It still stands as an Olympic record. [youtube video="EKoviMJgrdE...

Three-time Olympic swimmer Dana Vollmer welcomed her second baby on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Vollmer, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, announced that her second baby, Ryker Alexander Grant, was born the morning of July 4 at 3:15 a.m., weighing 6 lbs, 15 oz. Along with pictures of her newborn son, Vollmer wrote, “Ryker Alexander Grant decided he loves fireworks & wants them...

GOAT swimmer Michael Phelps, after winning 23 gold medals, is totally over racing people nowadays. Instead, he’s now moved on to giant mammals — specifically one type that is a legitimate killing machine. Phelps will soon race a great white shark, as a part of Shark Week, and we’re pretty excited about it. Phelps Vs. Shark: The Battle for Ocean Supremacy will air on July 23...

Missy Franklin was that 17-year-old swimmer at the 2012 London Olympic Games who won four gold medals and a bronze medal. She was the face of USA Swimming, yet just four years later her story went quite differently and she is left asking herself: “What if I’m never as good as I was?” After barely qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team, Franklin did make it to the 2016 Rio Olympic...

Missy Franklin is so upbeat, so full of energy, so dang positive all the time, it’s hard to imagine her ever going to a dark place. After what happened last summer, though, it’s only natural that she would start to question everything she stood for. “Being totally honest with you, it’s something that terrifies me,” Franklin said, her perpetually positive tone suddenly filled...

Discovery released the schedule Thursday for its annual Shark Week, and one program was particularly eye-catching.On July 23 at 8 p.m., Discovery will air Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White, in which 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps will, yes, race a shark.Here’s Discovery’s description of the event:They are one of the fastest and most efficient predators...

Ryan Lochte has openly admitted that he was in a bad place mentally after his embarrassing incident in Rio last summer, but the six-time gold medalist insists he never considered taking his own life.In a lengthy interview with ESPN that was released this week, Lochte told Allison Glock that he was so depressed at times after Rio that he didn’t care if he lived or not. When Lochte...