Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte Undergoes Surgery After Inflatable Waterslide Accident

Following an apparent accident in the water, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte is sharing a “successful” update after undergoing surgery

Ryan Lochte
Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Cirque du Soleil

It may be a while until Ryan Lochte is back in the swim of things.

The decorated 37-year-old swimmer is on the road to recovery following an apparent accident involving an inflatable waterslide. Lochte's wife of three years, Kayla Reid, shared the news in an Instagram post on Aug. 13.

"A legend of lessons," Reid captioned a photo of Lochte giving a thumbs-up while in a hospital bed. "Don't race down an inflatable kids water slide folks!" The gold medalist also shared the same snap of himself to his Instagram Stories, adding that his "surgery was a success." E! News has reached out to Lochte's rep for comment.

Although there are little known details about the incident, according to Reid's Instagram post, the athlete was hospitalized at an orthopedic surgery center.

The mishap comes just two months after the 12-time medalist failed to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics. In a news conference held on June 18, Lochte opened up about the disappointing outcome.

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"Swimming has taken me so far," he explained. "Coming out of the water, just what's swimming's done for me, and my family is unbelievable. To me, the world's greatest sport. Very emotional. I was kind of taking it all in. I really wanted to be on the Olympic team."

"I think this is probably my most important swim meet that I've ever had in my entire career, the one that meant the most to me," he continued. "So, falling short and feeling like I let everyone down was one of the hardest things."

Although the dad of two admitted during a recent episode of E!'s Daily Pop that he's unsure of what the future holds and whether he'll compete in 2024, he explained that he'll always be involved in the sport no matter what. "Olympics is every four years but in between those years we have other swim meets," he shared during the July 23 episode. "So, I'll be going to those and still competing. So, you'll still see me around."

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