When Ryan Murphy gets on the starting blocks at the U.S. Olympic Trials Sunday to begin pursuit of another shot at Olympic gold in Paris, it’s not like one of the world’s elite swimmers is hellbent on a revenge tour.
After winning individual gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke at the 2016 Summer Games, then settling for bronze and silver, respectively, in Tokyo three years ago, Murphy isn’t motivated by any redemption.
While the Bolles School product wishes he could have overtaken Russia’s Evgeny Rylov to win those races in Tokyo, what gets his juices flowing is simply the desire to compete at an optimum level regardless of the circumstances.
“I go into every meet and as long as I feel good about the work I put in and the focus I put in, then I can walk away from any competition and say I maximized my potential,” Murphy told the Times-Union in a May interview.
“I’m not someone who has ever struggled for motivation, so I don’t need a picture of Rylov on my wall to be ready. I definitely want to win at this Olympics. I think that’s possible. It’s everything I’m training for.”
Murphy’s first big step in reaching that goal is qualifying for a third Olympics in the backstroke, which means finishing among the top two in both the 100 and 200 events over the next week at Trials inside Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL Indianapolis Colts.
Until Rylov swept both backstroke events in Tokyo, the U.S. had won every Olympic gold medal in those races since 1992. Though Murphy turns 29 on July 2, many feel his intense preparation and attention to detail still make him the American favorite to return to the Olympic medal stand.
Murphy is now older than any American who has swum the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympics, but his experience may give him the necessary edge in a pressurized Trials environment. His personal best time of 1:53.57, a world record he set at the 2018 Pan Pacific, is still two seconds better than other Americans competing at Trials.
Among the half-dozen contenders who could deny Murphy an Olympic medal three-peat are two from the same University of California program, Destin Lasco and Keaton Jones, along with Jack Aikins in the 200. Lasco and another Cal product, Hunter Armstrong, who was second to Murphy at the 2021 Trials in the 100, could be his toughest challengers in that event.
“Backstroke is probably the most competitive men’s event,” said Murphy. “We probably have four guys in the U.S. who could make the Olympic final and only two of us are going to get there.”
Taking a different approach
Murphy and every swimmer got thrown a curveball when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a one-year delay of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021, which altered training cycles and forced athletes to hit the reset button.
David Durden, who coached Murphy at Cal and remains his personal coach, strongly implied that his top backstroker might have won gold without the Olympics going on pause.
“He’s one of those athletes that if the Olympics happened in 2020, then it’s a whole different story,” Durden said of Murphy in a phone interview. “The pandemic in our area of the country, we had limited opportunities to get into the pool.
“When everyone else around the country was racing again, it felt like ours took a long time to get back into [training] normalcy.”
Murphy acknowledged having to pivot away from his usual preparation just four months before the Tokyo Olympics did put him in a tough spot, but he dismisses that excuse because all the world’s swimmers had their schedules put in flux.
Still, he learned some valuable training lessons from that situation and is applying it in the leadup to Trials.
“In 2020 and ‘21, I tilted a little bit too far to focusing on fitness,” said Murphy. “I got pretty tired and didn’t really recover from that. Last fall, I put a pretty good emphasis on fitness and got in a lot of work. That’s serving me well now.
“I’m trying to be measured how I’m pushing my body.
“I think my mind is better than ever to process information and deal with the pressure. I’m optimistic. I think I’m in a good spot. This is probably the best year of training I’ve ever had, but I still got to do it on that day [of competition].”
Swimming future still uncertain
Murphy’s life underwent a significant change when he married his longtime girlfriend, Bridget, a former Cal rower he met as a college sophomore, in September.
Bridget, a former creative producer at Nike, is now employed at a marketing analytics company. She has been through the pre-Olympic preparation routine with Ryan, who appreciates how she goes about being his primary support system.
“It’s definitely not easy being married to somebody trying to make the Olympics,” said Murphy. “The biggest difference from before is we are more invested than ever in each other’s goals.
“I’m probably spending 25 hours a week swimming and weightlifting and another 25 hours in recovery, doing yoga, physical therapy, sitting in compression pants, which is time not on the couch cuddling with her.”
How much longer Murphy is willing to keep pushing himself for the sake of Olympic glory remains a bit murky.
The financial benefits of being an accomplished swimmer have become lucrative, especially since Michael Phelps raised that bar.
But Murphy is also pursuing other interests. His family is getting ready to open up a Goldfish Swim School next month in St. Johns County, which will be run by his parents, Patrick and Katy of Ponte Vedra Beach.
Ryan intends to be heavily involved with the swim school in the future, though to what degree will depend on how long he intends to keep chasing Olympic gold. With the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, he may not be able to resist giving it one more shot.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve 100 percent made a decision, but I’m leaning toward swimming in L.A.,” said Murphy.
For now, if all goes well at Trials, he will have a chance to add to an impressive swimming legacy of six Olympic medals (4 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and another 17 World Championship medals.
“Ryan is approaching that kind of rarefied air as a backstroker that Aaron Peirsol had for so long,” said Durden. “Ryan is checking all the boxes in his preparation. It’s a matter of getting him behind the blocks and letting him compete.”
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ryan Murphy aims to regain backstroke dominance in Olympic swimming
