SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers whether Ryan Lochte should serve a suspension for his role in the gas station incident in Brazil:
RESULTS
Question: Should Lochte be suspended for the incident in Brazil?
- Yes – 49.3%
- No – 42.3%
- Unsure- 8.4%
Almost half of respondents said they wanted a suspension for Lochte, with 42% opposing suspension and just over 8% unsure.
Lochte, of course, was last week hit with a 10-month suspension for his role in the incident. Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were all suspended for 4 months.
The suspensions have been criticized by some as heavy-handed, especially compared to the 6-month suspension given to Michael Phelps in 2014 and the length of some international suspensions for doping.
The incident was originally framed as an armed robbery on the four men after Lochte told his mother and then reporters about it. Then information was revealed that the swimmers had caused damage to a gas station bathroom and paid money to cover the damages.
Lochte is in less trouble for the damages themselves (which at this point appear limited to urinating outside of the bathroom and knocking down an advertisement) and more trouble for his story about the incident. Lochte has admitted to exaggerating the story, and Brazilian authorities have tried to prosecute him for making a false report of a crime.
The suspension will keep Lochte out of U.S. Nationals, where swimmers will qualify for the 2017 World Championships. That means Lochte won’t swim a major international meet until the fall of 2017 or later.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters whether the USOC disciplinary measures are appropriate or not:
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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
I feel like had this happened 1 week later, after the closing ceremony when the media wasn’t watching anymore, no one would have cared. But USA swimming probably felt pressure to do some major ban to try and not make the effect of the Olympic bump in membership drop. This was a money driven decision. I hate suspensions because they are always so subjective. Phelps got his second DUI and was given 6 months in a non-Olympic year. Lochte during the Olympics filed a somewhat false police report (if security guards pulled their weapons and demanded money that is a robbery), and gets 10 months plus can’t visit the White House, can’t go to worlds, and loses many of his… Read more »
I saw an article that says the IOC will not issue further punishment because they feel USA swimming’s punishment was adequate. So the way I see it, this punishment for Lochte needs to stand because if not, the USA becomes a country that others will laugh about. For those who talk about Phelps: I do not condone the DUIs and pot incident, but he did it as an individual, no one got hurt (luckily) and it was not an international controversy. He accepted responsibility right away, went to rehab and turned his life around, married, had a kid. Lochte on the other hand, lied and lied until a video proved his lies, and did not seem to care that the… Read more »
SWIM MOM, you are not a swim mom! How about, taking your own advise and stop lying! See how quickly you point your fingers on Lochte when you yourself is a liar and is hiding behind it.
So Phelps 2 Dui’s are ok cause he made himself better out of it? He was given the chance to make himself better out of it. Give Lochte a chance too. by your statement, Phelps should have been banned after his first DUI. And he then went out and got a second one. That sounds like a much bigger mistake to me than filing a somewhat false police report (last time I checked, pulling guns out and demanding money is robbery no matter who does it). Yes lochte lied. Yes he deserves a punishment. But 10 months is excessive and without precedent.
Although 49% favor punishment for Lochte, there is precious little justice in the opinions of an incompletely informed general populace. I do not give a hoot about what uninformed people “think”, or even worse “feel”. The offenses were minimal if anything, especially for the 3 younger guys, and they do not mount to any significant crime other than peeing in some bushes (not witnessed, BTW), and pulling down a poster. When I was in college we called that “Friday night”. Lochte then told his mother an essentially true story that he was shaken down at gunpoint (leaving out the peeing, etc…she is his mother after all). The lie was procreated by Mom, and there you go…what a mess. The three… Read more »
Your crazy ranting reflects your own internal bias and inability to see the wider, bigger picture. Representing a great like the USA as an elite athlete should be taken lightly. Urinating in public, telling ridiculous lies in the international press, and damaging property in a FOREIGN country are not minimal. You have low standard of expectations for elite athletes but thankfully the USOC and USA Swimming can see the bigger picture. Lochte idiotic behavior was on displayed for the world’s to see. Because of Lochte’s immature behavior the attention was focused on his bad behavior rather than the hard work of the other 45 members of the US swim team. No excuse for immature, childish behavior. People who defend such… Read more »
Edit. Should read as: Representing a great country like the USA as an elite athlete should not be taken lightly.
Punch out.
The only crime is people overlooking their own public urination events as necessities while condemning Lochte et al. What they did was no big deal. What the illegal security guard did was gross escalation of a non violent interaction. Drawing a gun??? All bets are off when that happened.
Lochte for the win!
While Lochte earned a some level of reprimand, the bigger problem is the position he put American swimming in. Go too light on punishment and the World swimming org’s laugh at the Americans – how can the USA be standard bearers if we do not hold our own accountable? The opposite, going overly hard, sets a standard for everyone. They needed a punishment that made everyone say ‘Damn. That was harsh.’
I don’t feel bad for Lochte, although I do for the other 3 unwitting accomplices who got dragged along, torn between team mate/friendship loyalty and telling the truth. In the end alll of the punishments will be a blip in otherwise stellar careers that we can all admire and… Read more »
no more grills , promise
Bill Clinton lied about having sex in the oval office, ryan lochte lied about having a gun put to his head when he only had a gun pointed at him, bill clinton still got to be president, ryan lochte wont be allowed to swim for 10 months and being robbed of probably close to a 100 grand
plus sponsers
Ryan may still become President .
we could do worse.
its worse allready LOL
Bush lied and thousands died. Or maybe we should just stick to swimming.
STEVE had a good analogy. Your’s has no correlation.
Yet another funny comparison. Who else can be substitute for Phelps, Clinton, dopers…? (Clinton was already in his second term, as you allude with the oval office reference and didn’t “get” to be president in spite of his transgressions there, although his sleaziness was, true, already well publicized before he took office: you’ll have to blame the voters on that, Steve) I get that many people think Lochte’s punishment is harsh–and I agree–but many of these comparisons being made seem more than a just a bit forced and irrelevant.
Maybe the Brian Williams scandal comes closest to Lochte’s situation–nothing illegal, nothing to do with the law, nothing very harmful except to the time, effort and workings to the organization… Read more »