American swimmers in action at the World Championships in Singapore have responded with frustration at criticism of the squad by retired greats Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.
Lochte, whose 200m individual medley record was shattered by French swimmer Leon Marchand on Wednesday, posted an image of a funeral on Friday with a gravestone reading “In loving memory of United States Swimming,” with a superimposed engraving of “They set the bar high – until they stopped reaching for it”.
“Call it a funeral, or a fresh start,” Lochte captioned the image, “We’ve got 3 years”. Phelps reposted it, adding a caption which read, “Is this the wake-up call USA swimming needed?”
The criticism appeared aimed at the fact that US athletes did not win a single gold medal among the first five relays of the world championships, with the mixed 400m relay team failing to make the final. The national federation has also come in for criticism over its management of the athletes’ pre-championships camp in Thailand, where an “overwhelming majority” of the swimmers suffered acute gastroenteritis, heading to the Worlds suffering the after-effects.
However, despite a comparatively slower start to the meet, the US has won 26 medals as of close of play on Saturday and sits top of the medal table, with eight golds. Of those eight golds six have been won by female swimmers, with Luca Orlando the sole male individual champion, in the 200m butterfly.
Saturday saw Katie Ledecky record a 23rd world championship title as well as Gretchen Walsh pick up gold in the 50m and 100m butterfly, while the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team smashed the world record to seal the title.
Walsh was asked about the criticism on Saturday and said, “I was made aware, and it’s frustrating, but I think that personally, I am just trying to block it out and take on the meet with everything I can and just show up and race like I know how.
“I think we’ve been dealing with a lot so it’s hard to get the criticism in the first place because I don’t think people quite understand the magnitude of everything going on behind the scenes.
“But showing up, giving my best, and coming out a world champion twice now has been everything, and I’m just happy to keep doing it and happy that I’m feeling like myself again in the water.”
Her compatriot Lilly King, who reached the 50m backstroke final on Saturday, tagged Lochte and Phelps in an Instagram post with the caption, “Y’all been real quiet tonight,” accompanied by the eyes looking sideways emoji.
