--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte Bromance description: The rival Olympic swimmers have been competing against each other for over a dozen years. In that time, they've also become good friends. canonical: https://time.com/4450036/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-friendship/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-12T15:02:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:26.366Z og:title: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte Have the Best Bromance og:description: The rival Olympic swimmers are teammates, competitors — and great friends og:url: https://time.com/4450036/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-friendship/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5170d232e908b520/6988a2250a4a22f5179cae5f/michael-phelps-ryan-lochte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: SWIMMING-OLY-2016-RIO-PODIUM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte Have the Best Bromance twitter:description: The rival Olympic swimmers are teammates, competitors — and great friends twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5170d232e908b520/6988a2250a4a22f5179cae5f/michael-phelps-ryan-lochte.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte Have the Best Bromance in Sports > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d3752de8-4231-4725-bf8b-f28efef508aa&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 12, 2016 3:02 PM UTC  Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte celebrate on the podium after they won the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 9, 2016. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte celebrate on the podium after they won the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 9, 2016. Martin Bureau—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 12, 2016 3:02 PM UTC They have a [lifelong rivalry in the pool](http://time.com/4448892/ryan-lochte-michael-phelps-rio-olympics/?iid=sr-link1). But take these two Olympians out of the water, and you have a beautiful friendship. After four joint Olympics — not to mention a string of world championships — the athletes have built up a strong bromance. After Rio, Phelps will be returning home to marry his fiancée and enjoy some well-earned time with his [new baby, Boomer](http://time.com/4396589/michael-phelps-son-boomer-swimming/?iid=sr-link2). Lochte, meanwhile, has said [he’d like to take a break](http://sports.yahoo.com/video/ryan-lochte-compete-tokyo-2020-070306660.html) from swimming, and also sees himself with a family by 2020\. But Lochte’s also suggested that he wants to give their [friendly rivalry another go](http://www.today.com/news/ryan-lochte-michael-phelps-i-ll-see-you-tokyo-t101776) in Tokyo. Friends: love ’em or hate ’em, they push you to be your best. Five weeks ago, Lochte took the time to compile this ultimate photo collage of some of the their biggest moments together. Both of them also posted a chummy pic after a pre-Rio training session where they raced each other. The two are roommates at the Olympic Village in Rio, too. Lochte’s birthday happened to fall during one of their first days at the Olympics. What’s a bud to do but wish his pal a good one with a classic shirtless selfie? They’ve been hanging out with the rest of their team while in Rio — and with a few other notable Olympians from Team USA, too. They won gold — together — as half of the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay team. And a few hours before their (ostensibly) final match-up in the pool for the 200-m individual medley on Thursday night, the friends [enjoyed a hearty pasta meal](http://time.com/4439596/pancakes-fettuccine-and-tofu-heres-ryan-lochtes-free-for-all-daily-diet/?iid=sr-link5) together to fuel up for their ultimate face-off. Phelps may have won that particular battle, but Lochte seems to think the war isn’t over. And friendship? 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