Ryan Lochte 5 Olympic 2012 Medals

Ryan Lochte, who once swam countless laps at our own Port Orange YMCA, capped off his 2012 London Olympic games last week bringing home five medals. On Friday, Lochte barely lost out to Michael Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley earning the silver. Just a half-hour earlier Lochte swam his strongest event, the 200-meter backstroke, earning the bronze medal. In some people’s eyes these accomplishments may have been a little short of Lochte’s ambitious goals, but with these two medals and his three other from earlier in the week (two gold, one silver) it brings Lochte’s Olympic medal count to eleven, near the top of the Olympic all-time medal count. Lochte has said he plans to compete through 2016, so only time will tell just how much more gold Lochte can bring to the United States and our Central Florida home.

Another Olympian who has roots in our area, Phil Dalhausser, competed last week in men’s beach volleyball with his partner Todd Rogers. After going undefeated in the pool round, the defending Olympic Champions, Dalhausser and Rogers, lost to the Italian team in three sets to fail to make the quarterfinal round. Dalhausser a Mainland High School and University of Central Florida alumni, brought home gold with his teammate in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. While this was a disappointing end to Dalhausser’s London Olympics, he has not ruled out another run in 2016.