What happened to Ryan Lochte? Swimmer shares accident details and recovery video

Learn more about Ryan Lochte's fate by posting a video describing his road to recovery after a devastating accident.

Lochte is the third-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history, only Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky are more successful.

His seven individual Olympic medals are the second-highest number in men's swimming history, again behind Phelps. Lochte competed in four different Olympic Games, most recently in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After disappearing from the spotlight after USA Swimming moved further behind its era at the 2024 Paris Olympics, many fans are wondering what he will do now following a surprising update on Lochte's health.

What happened to Ryan Lochte?

Six-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte recently revealed details of a serious car accident he was involved in last November.

The 39-year-old swimmer spoke about the incident on the Only for Athletes Podcastwhere he explained that the accident occurred while he was on his way to pick up his children from school.

Lochte recalled colliding with a parked garbage truck after the car swerved in front of him, leaving him with no time to react. The impact caused significant injuries, a fracture of the femur and “Blood [to gush] out of [his] Head:”

“They're saying, 'He's dead. He's not breathing. He's dead.' Blood is shooting out of my head. I still have some stitches in there. I broke my femur. I broke my femur completely in half. My car is a total loss.”

He had initially kept the news secret until his recovery was complete. He and his wife, Kayla Lochte, shared a video on Instagram detailing what had happened since the accident.

For many people, it was the first time they had heard about the car accident involving Lochte.

Ryan Lochte is still haunted by his accident

During the podcast appearance, Lochte further explained the physiological trauma of the accident and explained that he “still[s] Fear when [he] receive[s] drive to physiotherapy in the car”, and he still has “Visions of flashing white lights:”

“I still feel scared when I get in the car to go to physical therapy. I still have visions of the accident. I still have visions of white lights flashing in my eyes. I don't know if I would wake up and see my family again.”

In the future, every time he wakes up, he says he is “so grateful”, put life into perspective as “in no time” it can be over:

“When I wake up, I'm so grateful. In an instant, your life can be over. I'm so grateful that no one else was hurt but me.”

During the conversation with the host, I asked him if he remembered how he was earlier in their conversation, “really religious, but I believed there was someone up there” and then explained how much he “additional five percent” to see it:

“Remember how I said earlier that I'm not really religious, but I believe there's someone up there. And I need that extra five percent to realize it?”

Lochte described how he felt “God watched [him]” during the crash, when he felt a larger presence telling him “It’s not your time:”

“I saw it. God was watching me and he said, 'Your time has not come yet.'”

Lochte hosts an elite swim camp called “Legendary,” which offers personalized coaching from the 12-time Olympic medalist, focusing on swimming techniques, Olympic training strategies and athlete development.