The love story of a former 'bunny' and an Olympic champion: the secrets behind Kayla Rae Reid and Ryan Lochte

The internet couple
One of the greats in American history
Now a real estate consultant and influencer
They met through a dating app
Regular dating app user
Popular social media couple
Rio 2016 Olympic Games
The best place to meet your in-laws
Controversial moment
They destroyed a gas station for fun
The big lie: victims of an armed robbery
International Olympic Committee suspension
Rae Reid always showed her support for Lochte
Engagement
The wedding
They wanted their son to have a special role
Ceremony with a hundred guests in Palm Springs
Another sanction
He tried to reach his fifth Games
Liv came into the world
A perfect marriage
A family that exudes happiness
The internet couple

More and more couples are meeting through social networks, whether they are completely anonymous or famous, love can be found just around the corner. A great example of this is the six-time Olympic champion swimmer Ryan Lochte and model Kayla Rae Reid.

One of the greats in American history

Lochte was considered one of the best swimmers on the scene, dominating in freestyle, backstroke, and combined styles. Without a doubt, the American is one of the best, participating in four Olympic Games, where he won six gold medals, three silver, and three bronze. Furthermore, he was crowned World Champion 39 times.

Now a real estate consultant and influencer

Kayla Rae Reid, for her part, wanted to be a professional cheerleader and ended up becoming a model, achieving great fame. She modeled for Hugh Hefner while working as a real estate consultant.

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They met through a dating app

Their paths crossed in 2016, when they met through a well-known dating application, as she herself said in an interview for Daily Mail Online. "He was on a well-known dating app and so was I. That's all I have to say on the subject," Rae Reid said at the time.

Regular dating app user

The swimmer also confessed to Cosmopolitan magazine that he was a regular app user. "On Bumble, the girls are the first who have to move, and I don't like that very much. So I left it. I decided to use this other well-known dating app because I heard that it was a success at the Sochi Games and I thought: 'I'm going to give it a shot.'"

 

Popular social media couple

She was clearly the one for Lochte, as the two started a family together. Ironically, the couple refused to make their relationship status public at first, but then went viral in 2016.

(Photo: Ryan Lochte Instagram)

Rio 2016 Olympic Games

In 2016, the couple went public after the American model was spotted with Lochte at the Rio de Janeiro Games (Brazil), where she celebrated his great success in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle race. It would be Lochte's last Olympic event.

The best place to meet your in-laws

There, Rae Reid also met the family of her future husband, who also accompanied him to the Rio Olympics. "His family is awesome. They've been very kind to me. He hasn't met my family, but it could happen, we'll have to see," she told the Daily Mail.

Controversial moment

Lochte was tangled up in some major controversy during the Rio Olympics when he was out partying with his teammates James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger. The group faked a robbery to mask the damage they did at a gas station.

They destroyed a gas station for fun

The sequence of events began at a private party organized to celebrate their successes in the Games. After drinking a little too much, they ended up refueling at a gas station where they lost control and destroyed the vicinity.

 

The big lie: victims of an armed robbery

After being detained by security members, to avoid taking responsibility for what happened and paying the expenses caused by their destruction, they decided to invent that they had been victims of an armed robbery and that the criminals had been the ones who had left the trail of destruction.

International Olympic Committee suspension

The International Olympic Committee (COE) sanctioned Lochte with a 10-month suspension, which led him to live one of the worst moments of his career. "There were a couple of moments when, through tears, I thought about going to bed and never waking up," he told ESPN.

Rae Reid always showed her support for Lochte

However, in the midst of all that trouble, he always had the unconditional support of Rae Reid: "I will always support him, no matter what happens," she told a Daily Mail journalist when he asked her if she would continue to show her face. For the athlete, something he also did during the swimmer's participation (in 2016) in the 'Dancing with the Stars' program.

Engagement

It didn't take long for them to announce their engagement that same year, and they did so through their respective Instagram accounts with some romantic photographs taken on the beaches of Malibu (California). "Forever memories!!!" Lochte wrote while she said, "Speechless. Absolutely beautiful. In love with you."

"A dream come true"

"As soon as I saw the head come out, I immediately cried. (…) We are on cloud nine. It's a dream come true. I'm still in shock. I can't believe we had a baby!," said Lochte on US Weekly.

The wedding

The idyllic love story would end not in one marriage, but in two. And, according to People magazine, Lochte and Reid were married for the first time in a court in Gainesville (Florida) in August 2018, and it was their son Caiden who was in charge of carrying the ring in the ceremony.

They wanted their son to have a special role

"We wanted Caiden to be old enough to walk down the aisle. One of our visions was that he could be the bearer of the ring," they told People.

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Ceremony with a hundred guests in Palm Springs

The second ceremony was held in a beautiful, intimate, outdoor celebration on a private property in Palm Springs (California) and was attended by approximately a hundred guests including family and friends.

(Photo: Ryan Lochte Instagram)

Another sanction

That year 2018 was also complicated for Lochte in sports after the United States Anti-Doping Agency imposed a 14-month sanction on him for having received a transfusion that violated the anti-doping code. The substance received was a legal vitamin supplement, but he had passed the amount limit.

 

He tried to reach his fifth Games

After the sanctions, he tried to prepare thoroughly for his fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, but he failed to qualify in the final rounds. He would end his professional swimming career at the age of 35.

Liv came into the world

A son, two weddings and several sporting disappointments later, their second child would arrive. In that case it was a girl, Liv Lochte, who was born in 2019 and with whom the wishes of the Olympic medalist were fulfilled.

A perfect marriage

"We are excited. We are very excited. (…) Ryan is a great father; I can't wait to see him as a father of three children. He is so great with children in general that they always gravitate towards him. I am excited too, [but] I'm more of the worrying, strict, not-so-fun mom, let's say. It's a good balance," Rae Reid told US Weekly.

(Photo: Ryan Lochte Instagram)

A family that exudes happiness

Today we can continue to see this wonderful family full of love and happiness through their social media accounts, and it all started with a 'well-known dating app'. Let us know what you think in the comments!

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