Olympian Ryan Lochte’s Low Missouri State Salary Has Fans Doing a Double Take

Olympic champion Ryan Lochte is officially entering his Coach Lochte era, and fans are already looking into his salary. Missouri State University announced on May 10 that Ryan will join its swimming and diving staff as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams later this summer.

Ryan will work under Missouri State head coach Dave Collins in Springfield, Missouri.

The hire still needs formal approval from Missouri State’s Board of Governors, but that has not stopped fans from eyeing the Olympic athlete’s new paycheck.

According to Front Office Sports, Ryan’s contract pays him $34.10 an hour and runs from August 2026 through June 2027. The deal carries an estimated annual value of $30,000, but Missouri State structured it as hourly pay, not a standard salaried coaching contract.

The contract also includes bonuses. Ryan can earn $750 if the men’s or women’s team wins or shares an MVC conference championship.

He can also earn $500 for each NCAA Championship individual qualifier.

The NCAA coaching portion of the job is technically part-time. However, Ryan will also work with Missouri State Aquatics, run clinics, and take on other swim-related responsibilities within the program.

That number may surprise fans because Ryan spent years as one of the biggest names in swimming. He is a 12-time Olympic medalist with six gold medals, three silver medals, and three bronze medals.

Reuters reported that his 12 Olympic medals tie him with Jenny Thompson for third among U.S. Olympic swimmers, behind only Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.

Ryan’s swimming career started long before Missouri State. He was born in New York and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida.

He later became a star at the University of Florida, where he earned his sport management degree in 2007. During his college career, he became a 24-time All-American, a seven-time NCAA champion, a seven-time SEC champion, and a two-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year.

After the 2012 London Olympics, E! gave Ryan his own reality show, What Would Ryan Lochte Do? The show premiered in 2013 and followed his life as he trained for the 2016 Olympics.

Then, his public image took a major hit. After the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ryan faced backlash over the gas station incident where he falsely claimed that he and other U.S. swimmers had been robbed, per ESPN.

In the Peacock documentary In Deep with Ryan Lochte, he took responsibility for what happened.

In 2019, CNBC’s Back in the Game featured him as an Olympic swimmer who was struggling after the Rio scandal damaged his reputation and sponsorships. His divorce from Kayla Rae Reid brought even more attention to his money situation.

According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, the couple had about $270,000 in debt. That included $99,696.09 owed to the IRS for 2021 and 2022, and a homeowners association lien.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ryan’s net worth now sits at about $300,000.