Ryan Lochte boosted by the past for his biggest Olympic challenge ahead

Ryan Lochte finished fifth in his primary event, three months before the Olympic Trials, but he expressed confidence while at his first swim meet of the year.

That’s because he sees parallels between recent training under coach Gregg Troy at the University of Florida and his memories from the same environment a decade ago, when he supplanted Michael Phelps as the world’s best swimmer.

“The times I’m going in practice, just the yardage, the back-to-back [practices] … I’m seeing it more often. It makes me excited to see what this summer’s going to hold,” Lochte said before placing fifth in the 200m individual medley at a Pro Series stop in San Antonio on Saturday night. “It’s a good confidence…