Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte undergoes meniscus surgery after suffering injury while ‘racing down an inflatable kids waterslide’
He is an Olympic level swimmer with a dozen medals to his name.
But it seems that a children’s inflatable waterslide proved to be too much for Ryan Lochte, as he and his wife Kayla revealed on Friday that he just underwent surgery to repair his meniscus after an accident involving the toy.
The athlete, 37, uploaded a selfie to his Instagram Stories from the hospital bed in which he was giving the thumbs up, underneath the caption which read, ‘Surgery was a success!’
It seems that a children’s inflatable waterslide proved too much for Ryan Lochte: He revealed Friday that he underwent surgery to repair his meniscus after an accident involving the toy
Kayla, 30, shared a similar picture to her feed, alongside a caption which stated, ‘A legend of lessons… don’t race down an inflatable kids water slide folks!’
She tagged Ryan and included emoticons for an old man as well as a black heart, geolocating the post to the Orthopaedic Surgery Center outside of Gainesville, Florida.
The accident surely occurred while Ryan was playing with his two young children he shares with Kayla, son Caiden Zane, four, and daughter Liv Rae, two.
Thumbs up: The athlete uploaded a selfie to his Instagram from the hospital bed in which he was giving the thumbs up, and his wife Kayla shared a similar shot
Athletic dad: The accident surely occurred while Ryan was playing with his two young children he shares with Kayla, son Caiden Zane, four, and daughter Liv Rae, two; seen on Instagram
Kayla also took to her Stories to briefly describe the circumstances surrounding the accident, whilst also giving a snapshot of her hectic ‘mom life’ day.
The knee accident and ensuing orthopedic procedure comes just two months after Lochte was unable to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
It also happens to be almost exactly a year after Ryan went under the knife for a different reason – appendicitis in August 2020.
The gold medalist took to Instagram Stories at the time with selfies and a montage of clips documenting his experience as he underwent the operation, which he said ‘went amazing’.
Sharing: Kayla also took to her Stories to briefly describe the circumstances surrounding the accident, whilst also giving a snapshot of her hectic ‘mom life’ day
The Dancing With the Stars alum was supported by his spouse of three years amid the medical procedure, as both were clad in face masks as the coronavirus pandemic was already in full tilt.
‘Hey everyone, surgery went amazing, I’m all good – I feel great right now,’ Lochte said as he had breathing tubes in his nose.
Lochte was ensnared in controversy at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after he and teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen claimed they had been robbed.
After authorities found major credibility issues with his story – and Lochte told NBC he ‘over-exaggerated’ things – he was hit with a 10-month ban from organized swimming by the US Olympic Committee and USA Swimming.
The accident comes two months after Lochte was unable to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games: Seen here in June at the Olympic Team Swimming Trials in Omaha