Michael Phelps & Ryan Lochte Accused As US Olympian Unhappy Over Strong Remarks: “Annoying”

When the US swimming team boarded the flight from America to participate in the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, no one would have imagined the crisis that was about to come. They first landed in Phuket, Thailand, and within days, almost half of the team fell ill with what was later diagnosed as acute gastroenteritis. The situation was so tense that a report said about 10 U.S. athletes were too sick to travel to Singapore with the rest of the team. Consequences?

Olympic champion Torri Huske and rising star Claire Weinstein withdrew from their events, while Gretchen Walsh abandoned the 4×100m freestyle relay. Sixteen-year-old Luca Mijatović, battling illness, finished well off his qualifying time in the 400m freestyle. Australia took advantage, winning both the women’s and men’s 4×100m relays, leaving the U.S. off the podium. That followed harsh criticism from Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, upon which a US Olympian has hit back.

In the SwimSwam Podcast streamed on September 1, Katharine Berkoff said, “It’s annoying on so many levels. For the women, we’ve shown up and done so well. Especially right now, our team is so deep. So to kind of be overlooked, it feels like ‘are you ignoring half the team?’ …It was really frustrating.” This was in response to the meme made by Ryan Lochte that sharply criticized Team USA’s performance at the World Aquatics Championships.

The meme depicted a funeral scene with a tombstone reading: “In Loving Memory of United States Swimming 1980–2025. They set the bar high—until they stopped reaching for it.” Lochte captioned the post, “Call it a funeral, or call it a fresh start. We’ve got 3 years.” Michael Phelps shared the same captioning, “Is this the wake-up call USA swimming needed? Let’s find out…” But later, the women’s team actually performed decently at the Championships.

The 4×100m medley relay team of Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske set a world record of 3:49.34; Walsh won the 100m butterfly (54.73s); Douglass took gold in the 200m breaststroke; and one of Michael Pehlps’ good friend Katie Ledecky extended her dominance with victories in the 800m and 1500m freestyle, securing her 23rd and 6th world titles in those events, respectively.

Katharine Berkoff herself secured her first individual world title in the women’s 50m backstroke with a gold-winning time of 27.08 seconds and also earned a bronze in the 100m backstroke. Meanwhile, Michael Phelps apologized, too, by the way!

Michael Phelps ‘Apology’

Shortly after the USA shattered the world record in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay with a stunning 3:18.48 finish, Lilly King posted on Instagram, tagging Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Her caption delivered a pointed, playful nudge. “Y’all been real quiet tonight.” The post was shared by a fan account, and Phelps dropped his apology in the comments.

“We should be so proud of how the team swam as a whole …. Right? Apologies for having higher expectations for the leadership of the team. My opinions were way off. USAS has what they finally want: me to “stay in my lane”. They will continue to help the kids reach childhood dreams by their continued support 6g.” But that felt like a sarcastic masterstroke.

Phrases such as “stay in my lane” and “they will continue to help the kids…” carry a different weight. Esepically now when you think of what he said about not sending his kids to swimming. It almost feels like the GOAT has stepped back from US Swimming, especially after facing criticism for speaking out on ways to improve the sport.