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Ryan Lochte Has 1 Last Chance to Forge a Legacy Separate from Michael Phelps

When it comes to elite-level swimming in the United States, you're royalty.

You've been on more medals stands than 99.99 percent of the world's aspiring athletes—a stretch topped off by five golds, three silvers and three more bronzes across appearances at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. You've come home from these trips with as much hardware as an NBA dream team.

Your haul is more prodigious, by the way, than all but 20 humans who've ever appeared on an Olympic stage, regardless of their sport—which, by anyone's definition, is pretty amazing.

But in spite of owning three world records and a claim to pool immortality, you've still got a perception problem.