RYAN MURPHY ON HIS PARIS OLYMPIC JOURNEY AS U.S. TEAM CAPTAIN

The 2024 Paris Olympics were a mixed bag of results for Ryan Murphy, with him setting new world records and also facing losses. In addition to defending his 100-meter backstroke bronze medal, the U.S.A. swim team captain helped his squad win silver and set a new world record in the 4x100-meter men's medley and mixed medley events, respectively. However, the athlete also faced a loss in La Defense Arena as a result of his elimination from his marquee event, the 200-meter backstroke finals.

Nonetheless, Murphy, who believes in the support of people and his drive for achievement, claims his loss in the 200-meter race helped him to do better in other events in Paris and now looks forward to future achievements. In a Zoom interview with me, Murphy discussed his Paris Olympic journey as team captain and his 2024 trials performance.

100-Meter Backstroke Win

At the Paris Olympics, Ryan Murphy successfully defended his 100-meter backstroke bronze from Tokyo, claiming his only individual Olympic win in Paris. He finished behind Thomas Ceccon and Xu Jiayi in 52.39, marking his 2nd Olympic bronze. However, the athlete, who fully anticipated winning the gold in the event following his consistent outings in the past three seasons, detailed how the racing dynamics may alter every day and the 29-year-old's confidence in himself to still grab the gold on favorable race days.

“Yeah. I mean, I think I'll say it this way. I think everyone that gets on the podium at the Olympics has the expectation that they can win gold. And I think all the people that think they potentially could medal, end up making the final. So I think the expectations and your goals have to almost overshoot the reality of what happens.

I went into that race fully believing that I could go win gold. And I still believe if we swim the race every day of the year, I think I will win gold on some of those days. So I have a lot of confidence in myself. There's certain dynamics that happen each day, and you kind of just have to react to that. But I think it was a really great swim by Thomas Checcon, the Italian who won that race. He was really, really solid in that event. And Xu Jiayi, the guy that got second, was also really solid in that race."

On the individual level, the men's swim team for the 2024 Games faced a few losses, with Bobby Finke winning the only individual gold for the team on the last day of the nine-day event. Nonetheless, to make up for the lack of depth this Olympic season, the team showcased stellar performances in the medley events. In the 4x100-meter mixed medley alongside the women's team, the U.S.A. placed first with a new world record of 3:37.43.

This win comes after the team placed fifth in Tokyo as Great Britain set a new world record. Murphy, who was present in both events, explained the strategy used in the “relatively new event” and how the world record win set apart the team's performance than in Tokyo.

“I think that it is an event where there is a ton of strategy involved, because you're allowed to pick two men and two women and put them at whatever stroke you want. So I think in Tokyo, we always go behind the blocks, thinking that we have a chance to win. Things didn't go our way in that race for a couple of different reasons. And that's okay. Like, we move on and move forward. And so going into this 2024 rendition, we were so excited going behind the blocks.

And we were really excited to be right next to China because they had the exact same lineup as us in terms of going two males on backstroke and breaststroke and then two females on fly and free. And so we knew that was going to kind of look like a swim-off because everyone else had some different lineups going on. So we were dueling that entire race.

If you take our four swimmers and China's four swimmers, we were eight for eight on great splits across the board. Like, we did not talk about trying to get the world record in that relay beforehand. And we ended up doing that, because we just performed really, really well across the board. And that doesn't happen too often. So we were just really excited that everyone was really on point and luckily turned out in our favor."

Captaining Team U.S.A.

Apart from qualifying for backstroke events, Murphy was also selected as the team captain for the Paris Olympics. Following his team leadership in Tokyo, he was elected for the position for the second consecutive time.

Intriguingly, apart from the responsibility and confidence that come along with the position, the role has helped Murphy to add a "compliment" to his Olympic experience. He has also utilized this opportunity to help the “rookies,” joining the Olympic village for the first time.

"Yeah, absolutely. It adds a little bit of additional responsibility. But I like that. I think it's—I mean, you're voted captain. That's really a compliment to the experiences that you've had. And then I feel like I've had now a lot of Olympic experiences.So I'm able to just kind of tell Olympic stories to hopefully make the, we call them, rookies, the people who have never been to an Olympic game.

We want to make sure that they're feeling as comfortable as possible walking into the venue. So I don't really make it too much bigger than that. Obviously, you have to be a little bit aware of how people are feeling and if you need to talk to someone one-on-one. But that's kind of natural for me anyway. So it's not a huge additional responsibility. I think it's more of a confidence boost and an honor to help lead Team U.S.A."

200-Meter Elimination

The 200-meter backstroke can certainly be considered an expertise for Murphy. After earning gold in the 200-meter backstroke in Rio, he won silver in the same event at the 2021 Olympics. In the past three seasons, the swimmer has also secured several podium finishes in World Championships meets and placed first in the U.S. trials in the 200-meter event. These consistent outings encouraged the fans, believing the defending silver medalist would win gold or try to continue to keep his Olympic streak in Paris.

However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Murphy failed to make the finals. In the semi-finals performance, he swam one-tenth of a second slower than the top eight, causing his elimination. Looking back on his performance weeks later, Ryan spoke to me about his game plan for the semi-finals and the silver lining he discovered in the loss.

"I feel like I have a decent frame on it now in the moment. I was absolutely crushed about that result. And now I feel like I've thought about it in a better way. Every single time I go into a semi-final, I take a risk. Because my goal in the semi-finals is to try to get through to the final, with as little energy expenditure as possible. And so that was my game plan in the semis.

I was actively holding back energy, my game plan, and semis like I was actively holding back energy, and I just misread where I was in my heat, and so it stinks that I didn't even give myself an opportunity to show my best effort in that event at the Olympics. If I zoom out and look at the totality of my career, like I'm okay with it, I'd love to go back and change it but like, it kind of is what it is. I think I try to look at the silver lining. I do think not swimming in that 200-meter back final maybe it made me a little bit faster on that mixed medley relay, and with how tight of a margin that race was, like if I'm, you know, if I'm 0.13 slower, like we get silver and we don't get the world record, so I try to look at the silver lining of things as well."

US Trials Performance

29-year-old Murphy was one of the most experienced and successful swimmers at the 2024 US trials, winning the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events for the third consecutive trial. While discussing his thoughts about achieving these accomplishments in his career, Murphy believes he owes his wins to two factors: his competitive mentality and the people around him.

"As a swimmer, yeah, I feel like I'm a product of the people around me. I think I have really talented coaches and teammates around me that help push me to be really good, and I've also, mentally, thought the biggest thing in sport is that you don't want to become complacent, like I've never thought that I have all the answers in sport. I'm constantly pushing the envelope to improve.

I think the results at trials are kind of just they just show that that mentality, um, I've stayed hungry for for the entirety of my career, the competitiveness has never waned, so I think it's incredible. It's an incredible accomplishment, yeah, and it's a cool confidence boost to know that I've been really good for a long time."

Cheribundi Products Role in Nutrition

In addition to training in water, Ryan Murphy is constantly on the lookout for gaining a competitive edge outside the pool as well. He manages to do so by being cognizant of his nutritional intake and using Cheribundi products to fuel his training and performances. The athlete, who also serves as an ambassador for Cheribundi, spoke to me about the role of their products in his nutritional journey.

“Cheribundi products have been incredible. I was introduced to their tart cherry juice a few years back as a way to decrease inflammation post-workout but also a way to sleep because ingesting tart cherry juice has a natural melatonin release in your body, so it's a great way to wind down at the end of the day. Also, I think, are very mobile for me to take it on the road.”

In essence, from creating history at trials to claiming medals in Paris, Ryan Murphy continues to keep the fans on tiptoes every Olympic year. He now looks forward to new horizons and is eyeing to compete at the 2028 LA Olympics as well and believes it to be "a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete on home soil."

Read the full article by Paras J. Haji on Fortune.