Suspension over, swimmer Ryan Lochte returns to competition

Suspension over, swimmer Ryan Lochte returns to competition

Published Jul. 12, 2017 4:34 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) Ryan Lochte is returning to USA Swimming competition this week for the first time since his 10-month suspension for his behavior at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics ended.

The 32-year-old new father will compete at the L.A. Invitational, which begins Thursday on the Southern California campus where he trains and now represents Trojan Swim Club.

The six-time Olympic gold medalist is entered in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles and 200 individual medley. His times of 48.16 seconds in the 100 free and 1 minute, 54.00 seconds in the IM are top-seeded.

Lochte was ineligible to compete at the recent U.S. nationals, which kept him from qualifying for the world championships beginning July 23 in Hungary. His suspension ended June 30.

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After returning from Rio, Lochte moved his training base from North Carolina to Los Angeles, where he appeared on ''Dancing With the Stars.'' He became a first-time father last month when son Caiden was born.

Lochte's first meet since Rio was in a Masters competition in April, which wasn't sanctioned by USA Swimming. He won multiple events at the short-course meet in Riverside, California.

Lochte was suspended last summer after he and three other swimmers vandalized a gas station during the Rio Games and then said they had been robbed at gunpoint. The scandal in Rio overshadowed the final days of the games and the ever-changing versions of events that Lochte provided cost him major sponsors.

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