Ryan Lochte joining college swim team staff — for $34 an hour

American swimmer and six-time Olympic gold medal winner Ryan Lochte will join the coaching staff of the Missouri State swim program. 

Lochte will work as an assistant coach under head coach Dave Collins, which will begin later this summer after his contract is officially approved by the university’s board of governors in June. 

According to his contract, obtained by Front Office Sports, Lochte will earn an estimated $30,000 and will be eligible for bonuses, which include $750 for a Missouri Valley Conference men’s and women’s championship or co-championship. 

There’s a $500 bonus for each NCAA Championship individual qualifier and $500 for each relay team that qualifies for the NCAA Championship, according to the outlet. 

Ryan Lochte of the United States reacts after competing in the Men’s 200m individual medley final during Day Six of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials. Getty Images

Lochte’s contract value, which breaks down to $34.10 an hour, is in line with what assistants Anna Miller and Lee Smothers have made. 

Collins called it “very” exciting to add Lochte, a 12-time medalist at the Olympics, to the coaching staff and Lochte said the coaching role would be “something I take seriously.”

“It’s about more than times and results,” Lochte said. “It’s about helping young men and women build discipline, resilience and confidence that will carry them far beyond the pool. I’ve lived the highs and the challenges of this sport, and I want to use that perspective to guide them, support them and help them reach their full potential in and out of the water.”

Lochte is one of the most decorated swimmers in Olympic history and had a successful college career swimming at the University of Florida from 2003-07. 

While his accomplishments in the pool made him a star, his actions outside the field of competition have also stuck with his legacy. 

Lochte was involved with a scandal during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he falsely claimed that he and three other members of the American swim team had been robbed at gunpoint, only for it to later come out that the group had vandalized a gas station bathroom. 

The swimmer was suspended for 10 months by USA Swimming over the incident. 

He was suspended for 14 months two years later after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency found that Lochte had received an IV infusion of vitamins of more than 100mL during a 12-hour period without the proper exception needed from the agency.

He and his girlfriend, Molly Gillihan, have also been embroiled in a longtime social media-fueled feud with Lochte’s ex-wife, Kayla Rae Reid.