Player Wives & Girlfriends

The Story

• Leading up to these Olympic games, we knew that Ryan Lochte's girlfriend would be a popular topic during the 2012 London Olympics.
  
  Our first effort to determine Ryan Lochte's girlfriend led us down a couple different paths. First, we learned that Lochte categorically denied having a girlfriend in an interview with ESPN the Magazine, saying, "My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend -- big mistake. Now I'm single, so London should be really good. I'm excited."
  That line certainly resonated, as we've seen time and again in our research that high profile athletes have tenuous relationships in advance of the games, with many ending in order for the athletes to isolate their focus and energies on the upcoming competitions. Knowing Lochte was primed to win a fistful of Gold in London, we weren't shocked that he made sure he was sans girlfriend for the games.
  
  We did charge on to see if he'd had any prior girlfriends, and possibly determine who was the medal blocking temptress from Beijing. We did reveal that he once dated fellow US Olympic swimmer, Caroline Burckle, leading up to and during the 2008 Beijing games, with the relationship ending just after the games (who wants to take bets on who Lochte blamed for not winning Gold or overcoming Phelps?). Any info on Lochte's dating history after Beijing is non-existent... until now.
  
  Various news outlets are now reporting that Ryan Lochte's girlfriend may be Australian swimmer Blair Evans. The Brisbane Times was the leader in reporting that Lochte and Evans may be an item after a "flirty" encounter at an Olympic training facility this weekend. The pair was spotted touching hands briefly underwater, while joking around after a lap. Lochte then made the ultimate display of being in a relationship and, get this, talked to Evans on the pool deck after their training session... GASP! I mean, they're clearly together, right?
  
  The report did go on to indicate that Lochte left to a locker room to change, and then returned to the pool so he and Evans could leave together. Now, we could go on with torrid rumors of illicit rendezvous and encounters we've heard about going down in the Olympic Village,... hell, we could even quote Hope Solo. For now, however, we'll choose to report on the report and let you guys guess what's really happening here.