Editor’s Note: Ryan Murphy is No. 4 on the Times-Union’s Top 100 list of athletes from the Jacksonville area.
One week after collecting his third Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics and ninth overall of his stupendous career, Ryan Murphy had far more thoughts swimming through his head than after he flew home from Brazil in 2016 or Tokyo in 2021.
Put aside the fact his United flight to San Francisco arrived nine hours late Saturday, sitting on a runway in Paris for what seemed like forever.
For Murphy, ranked No. 4 on the Times-Union list of Greatest 100 Athletes from the Jacksonville area, life is about to get plenty busy. There won’t be much time to decompress from the biggest global sporting event this year because his plate has never been so full.
The Bolles School product is no longer just one of the greatest American backstrokers to ever stand on an Olympic podium. Or one of only four U.S. swimmers in history (Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Jenny Thompson) to take home three medals from three different Summer Games.
Murphy has reached that stage of life where his whole world is no longer just about swimming.
At 29, he’s less than one year into marriage with his longtime partner, Bridget. And as was surprisingly revealed publicly to Ryan on national television — moments after being awarded a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke in Paris — the couple is expecting a baby girl in late January.
With the Olympics in his rearview mirror, the uber-competitive Murphy can focus on putting that Hass School of Business degree from Cal-Berkeley to good use as an entrepreneur and financial planner.
His schedule is fixing to change in a big way. Murphy is mentally preparing himself to spend more time changing diapers and doing his share of middle-of-the-night baby feedings, instead of jumping back into the pool for training around Christmas as in previous Olympic aftermaths.
Over the next two months, Murphy and his parents, Pat and Katy, are also getting ready to open his Goldfish Swim School in St. Johns County, which is expected to instruct over 1,000 kids from 6-months-old through 12 on how to swim at multiple levels.
“I have in my head how to do everything, I’m definitely going to be busy,” Murphy said in a phone interview from his home in Oakland. “I like having my mind active. I have a lot of great places to put that energy.
“Life is at a really exciting place because there’s a lot of cool opportunities for me personally and professionally.”
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Mixing baby duties with business
Beyond awaiting their baby girl’s arrival, the Murphy family will be preoccupied with business matters. They want to take advantage of Ryan’s burgeoning financial portfolio, which keeps growing as a high-profile Olympian who owns five career gold medals.
Since capturing three gold medals in Rio at the 2016 Summer Games, which happened one semester after Ryan was accepted into Cal’s prestigious business school, the backstroke specialist has received plenty of insight from fellow alumni on how to properly navigate the corporate world.
Murphy will always be known for his prodigious swimming talent, but the 2017 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year has long been preparing himself for life outside the pool.
“I think Cal business school and its network has helped me a ton when I think about my future,” said Ryan. “I’ve done a lot the last three years to set myself up. I like the idea of serving a community while running a business.”
Starting up a Goldfish swim school (there are 175 franchises in the U.S. and Canada) fits right into Murphy’s business wheelhouse. His role will bring him to Jacksonville more often in the coming months as he co-markets with other local companies that have similar consumers.
In addition to Goldfish duties with his parents, who run the operation, Murphy has served for the past three years as an adviser to the House Fund venture capital group, which invests in Cal alumni. Murphy attempts to attract investors to specific companies tailored to swimming and golf.
Since 2022, Murphy also has the title of Athlete in Residence for AJAX Health, an investment group specializing in private equity and medical equipment.
With the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles as possibly Murphy’s last major international competition, he’s doing everything he can now while his brand is growing to prepare for life beyond a starting block and swimming lane.
“Ryan has no problem about what he’s going to do with his life,” said NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in the freestyle who has provided commentary for every Olympics since 1992. “When we talk, it’s about life after swimming. Whether it’s swim school or something else, he’s going to be great.
“As a swimmer, your life revolves around a clock. He understands numbers and what it’s like to be successful. He will translate that into the real world.”
Fired up for fatherhood
Ryan and Bridget had known for several weeks before the Olympics that she was expecting their first child, but knew nothing about the gender.
When Bridget received a sealed envelope that would tell them if it was a boy or girl about a week before the swim competition began, she didn’t dare open it while Ryan was already in Paris.
“She initially planned to open up the gender envelope after the [swimming part of the] Games,” said Ryan. “Then I got a text during the day of the 100-meter final and she’s like, ‘Hey, would you like me to let you know tonight?’
“Well, yeah, but only let me know if I medal because I otherwise won’t be in the best head space. That envelope was burning a hole in her pocket. She really wanted to open that thing up.”
Bridget called an audible on the reveal when her sister suggested doing it after the race on the night before the 100-meter final. So they went to an arts and craft shop near their hotel the next morning to get the poster and a Sharpie.
“My sister came up with the idea and I thought that could be a pretty iconic gender reveal,” Bridget told the T-U. “I told Ryan if he got a medal, we might do it and he was on board with it.
“What cooler way to find out he was going to be a girl Dad? I’ve never seen Ryan more excited in the seven years I’ve been with him.”
Though Murphy had the lead going into the last 50 meters, he got caught by Italy’s Thomas Ceccon and China’s Xu Jiayu. He finished in 52.39 seconds to earn a bronze, edging out Greece’s Apostolos Christou by two one-hundredths of a second.
After receiving his medal, Murphy walked around the pool deck with his fellow medalists, looked up at his family and spotted the “It’s a Girl” sign.
“Seeing that sign after the medal ceremony, it gives you an immediate shot of perspective,” said Ryan. “Swimming is such a huge focus of mine. Every decision I make has been with swimming in mind.
“Knowing I got a little girl to look forward to and who will have dreams of her own, it’s exciting to think about fostering that dream-building.”
Bad timing to be ‘under-the-weather’
Bringing home three medals from an Olympics is a significant accomplishment, and Murphy has now done it in three consecutive Summer Games.
Still, this one left him slightly more disappointed because of his failure to get to the finals in what many regard as his strongest event: the 200-meter backstroke.
Murphy had only the 10th fastest time (1:57.02) among 16 semifinalists, once again fading a bit in the last 30-40 meters and finished one-tenth of a second from qualifying for the eighth and final spot.
When I asked him about the rare occurrences of him not closing his individual races better, Murphy acknowledged he had been feeling “under-the-weather” during most of the swim week.
Though he posted better times as the leadoff for the backstroke portion of the 4×100 mixed medley relay and 4×100 men’s medley relay, where the U.S. won gold and silver, respectively, not making the 200-meter individual final was easily the biggest disappointment of his Olympic career.
Still, Murphy loathes making excuses and blamed himself for not being more aware of his positioning during his semifinal heat.
“It’s important to realize that when you’re in a sport and competing at a super-intense level for so long, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that intensity,” said Murphy. “But at the same time, I’m also really positive and have a future-building mindset. It doesn’t do me any good after a race to wallow in the result. It’s about what I can learn and do better next time.
“It’s the Olympics and you bring what you have every day. It was unfortunate to feel like that, but I don’t think I was the only one feeling that way. I just thought I was in a different spot than I was [during the semifinal]. That’s on me trying to save energy for the final.
“I looked around at 25 meters [to go] and felt I did enough [to qualify] and shut it down. It was a mental mistake.”
Gaines was adamant that had Murphy made the final the next day, he would have been at the top of the medal stand, just like in 2016.
“I think he would have won the gold, no doubt in my mind,” said Gaines.
Home Olympics may entice Murphy
Pat Murphy believes his son has a lot of things to figure out in the coming months with a baby on the way, an impending move from Oakland to east San Francisco, and balancing his time to accommodate the opening of the swim school.
“He’s got a number of things to think through,” said Pat, who retired as a Landstar executive to focus on launching Goldfish.
A big one for Ryan down the road is deciding how he will map out the rest of his swimming career.
The 2025 World Championships next summer (July 11-Aug. 3) in Singapore are on his radar, but not necessarily as a competitor. With a baby on the way, he may not be fully committed to training properly to add to his collection of 19 World Championship medals.
“I’ve had conversations about being on the TV side with NBC,” said Murphy. “A couple stakeholders involved in that conversation. It’s hard to say [what will happen].”
Just as unsettled at this point is whether Murphy, who would be 33 and one of the oldest swimmers if he makes the ‘28 U.S. Olympic team, will be in the pool in Los Angeles.
He intends to sit down with Cal coach Dave Durden, who was also the Olympic men’s coach in Tokyo, in the coming months to figure out what his swim schedule might look like once he settles into fatherhood.
Murphy served as co-captain of the most recent U.S. team and Gaines has a hard time picturing him sitting the next one out on home soil.
“I would say the USA team desperately needs Ryan Murphy to be on it in 2028,” Gaines said. “It’s much more for what he does outside the pool than in it. I think he’ll go down in history being much more valuable than what he did in 2016 [winning three gold medals]. Having Murphy on the team is a game-changer because of his leadership.
“For my money, he’s still the greatest backstroker. He was captain of the Olympic team for a reason.”
Since diplomacy and humility are Murphy trademarks, he shies away from discussing his place in U.S. swimming history.
Besides, he has such profound respect for retired U.S. backstroker Aaron Peirsol, who has held the 200-meter world record (1:51.92) since 2009, Murphy wouldn’t dare publicly compare himself to the only American backstroker considered in his elite class.
“I don’t want to be competing against Aaron,” said Murphy. “I still look up to him a lot. He’s always going to be my role model. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do in the sport and my consistency. It’s just hard for me to comment on the legacy side.”
An Olympic memory for his daughter?
Like it or not, there’s little doubt Murphy is fast approaching rarefied air in his specialty. If he adds one more Olympic medal in 2028, he would become only the seventh American male swimmer, including Clay High’s Caeleb Dressel, to reach double digits.
Should that not enough to get Murphy to give the Olympics one more shot, a couple other factors will most certainly intrigue him. One, swimming less than 400 miles from his California home is enticing.
Secondly, World Aquatics has made a formal request to the International Olympic Committee to add a 50-meter event in the backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly for both men and women in 2028. Though Murphy has never trained for the backstroke at a shorter distance for Olympic level, he acknowledges it would be an incentive.
“It’s impossible to know what my mentality will be at that point,” said Murphy. “But the thought of trying to compete in a home Olympics is so appealing.”
Here’s another component that could tug at Murphy’s heartstrings: his daughter, who would be 3 ½ at the ‘28 Olympics, seeing Daddy compete on the world’s biggest swimming stage.
Murphy conceded the point, providing context from his own childhood memory. He remembers being a 2-year-old kid when his late paternal grandfather explained to him why there were rocks on an outdoor placemat, so that the wind wouldn’t blow it away.
It was the last words he recalls hearing his grandfather speak. So making a potentially unforgettable memory for his future daughter is something to consider.
“There’s always hope that the child realizes the magnitude of the moment,” said Murphy. “Certainly the Olympics could be that for her.”
Ryan Murphy has made enough memories in the pool to become an Olympic legend. Adding one more for his daughter-to-be might be too good to pass up.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
4. RYAN MURPHY/SWIMMING
Age: 29
High School: Bolles
College: Cal
Accomplishments: Burst into international stardom by winning three gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, including both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke and capturing the medley relay with U.S. teammates Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian and Cody Miller. He also set a world record (51.85 seconds) on his relay backstroke leg and another three Olympic records in Rio. . . . Murphy added a medley relay gold at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo with teammates Caeleb Dressel, Michael Andrew and Zach Apple, plus a silver in the 200-meter backstroke and a bronze in the 100-meter event. . . . At the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, he took home a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke, but failed to qualify for the finals in the 200-meter. . . . Murphy recovered from that disappointment to earn a gold medal in the mixed medley relay (two men, two women) with teammates Nic Fink (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly) and Torri Huske (freestyle) as the U.S. prevailed by 0.12 seconds over China. . . . Murphy added a silver medal in the men’s medley relay with Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong and Fink, but China captured the gold to hand the U.S. its first loss in the event in Olympic history. . . . Murphy’s total of nine career Olympic medals is surpassed by only six American male swimmers – Michael Phelps (23), Ryan Lochte (12), Mark Spitz (11), Matt Biondi (11), Caeleb Dressel (10) and Gary Hall Jr. (10). . . . His five Olympic individual medals in the backstroke is tied for the most all-time with Aaron Peirsol and East Germany’s Roland Matthes. . . . Murphy won both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes at the past three U.S. Olympic Trials. . . . His career at the World Championships has produced an additional 19 medals from five different WC meets since 2015, including individual golds in the 200-meter backstroke (2022) and 100-meter backstroke (2023). . . . During his college years, Murphy swept the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships all four years at Cal. . . . He was named NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year in 2014 and 2016, as well as the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2017. . . . At Bolles, he won FHSAA backstroke state titles all four years, setting a national record of 45.34 seconds in 2013, while also winning the 200-individual medley and 100-freestyle titles. . . . In addition, Murphy was part of three different relay teams that set national records and also recognized as Times-Union Athlete of the Decade in boys swimming.
Deserving because: Murphy has emerged as the greatest swimmer to ever come out of the highly-decorated Bolles School program. Few athletes on the top-100 list were as dominant as Murphy in high school, college and at their sport’s highest level.
On the possibility of pursuing a fourth Olympic Games in Los Angeles at age 33 in 2028: “It’s impossible to know what my mentality will be at that point. But the thought of trying to compete in a home Olympics is so appealing.” — Ryan Murphy.
Where is he now: Murphy lives in Oakland, Calif. (a move to east San Francisco is in planning stages) with his wife, Bridget, a former rower at Cal who is expecting their first child (a girl) in January. He will become involved with his Goldfish Swim School being run by his parents, Pat and Katy, in St. Johns County that is due to open in October.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Make Room for Daddy: Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy preps for diapers, less sleep
