Ryan Lochte: TV vs. training

Ryan Lochte arrives at the ALMA Awards.

Ryan Lochte is warming to the idea of being a TV star.

Even if it’s not doing much for his swimming.

Lochte is struggling to balance the demands of getting ready for this summer’s world championships and filming a new reality television show, which begins airing on E! Entertainment Television in April.

The 11-time Olympic medalist concedes that shooting What Would Ryan Lochte Do? makes it difficult to do the sort of training he needs to be consistent in the pool. He’s supposed be practicing nine times a week, but rarely makes more than four or five sessions.

While Lochte has made cameos on 30 Rock and other shows since winning two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the London Games, the reality show has proven to be much more demanding.

Lochte might become more famous for an eight-episode reality show than anything he’s done at the pool. He’s got six more weeks of filming — a small price to pay, he figures, and why he pushed so hard to persuade his demanding coach, Gregg Troy, this was the right thing to do. “I tell him, ‘Just stick with me for eight weeks, until I’m done shooting this show. Then I’ll get back into it,’” Lochte said.