Lochte is not only one of the best in the world at what he does but has the charisma and personality to be one of the most magnetic figures on the American Olympic team. Despite an obvious level of competition and drive matched by few, he seems like a regular guy when he's out of the pool. In an ESPN The Magazine article on sex in the Olympic Village, Lochte was quoted as saying he’d made the mistake of having a girlfriend at the last Olympics but was excited to be single this time. And in addition to being accessible to his fans (he’s very active on Twitter under the handle @RyanLochte), he’s shown himself to be a bit of a character with a sense of humor. Dating back to 2007, he’s occasionally worn a diamond-studded red, white and blue “grill”-style mouthpiece designed by rapper Paul Wall on the podium. While the grill might be a fan favorite, it’s not too popular with the International Olympic Committee. Many reports early in these Games say that Lochte was told he wouldn’t receive a medal if he was wearing the grill on the podium. He obliged by only putting in the grill after getting his first gold of the Games. The photos snapped of him with the grill will likely be among the most iconic from the 2012 Olympics.

The swimmer, who turned 28 during the London Games, has seen success virtually ever since he jumped into the swimming pool for competition. He left London with five medals, two of which were gold. That's made his total Olympic collection eleven strong. In 2010 and 2011, it’s hard to argue that any other swimmer on the planet had more success than Lochte. At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, he earned five gold medals and set a world record in the 200 meter individual medley. He was also named the 2011 Male Swimmer of the Meet at the event and that year, picked up his third straight Male Athlete of the Year award at the Golden Goggles Awards, which are held annually to honor the best swimmers in the U.S. In 2010, he set a World Championships record with six gold medals, and also earned another six at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.