Five Things to Know about Olympic swimming champion Ryan Murphy
The USA backstroke star won three Olympic gold medals in Rio, but did you know that is also a keen investor in the stock market? More on that below!
Brains, brawn and bravery, USA swimmer Ryan Murphy has it all.
The Illinois-born athlete may only be 25, but he already has three Olympic titles to his name, having won the 100m and 200m backstroke, as well as 4x100m medley relay gold medals in Rio. Murphy also qualifies for GOAT status, as the current men’s 100 back world record holder.
Given that his High School training partner was Caeleb Dressel, he was always destined for great things.
But it hasn’t always been plain sailing. Since his heroics in Brazil at the last Olympics, Murphy has failed to win an individual world title. At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, a rival even directed a verbal barb at him after the 100 back, and the American wants his revenge at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Away from the water, the Berkeley business graduate has plenty of interesting side projects. But how well do you know the swim star?
1 - An early Olympic vision
Murphy’s parents enrolled him in swimming classes aged two, and it wasn’t long before his dream in life was to become the best in the world.
One of his early school assignments was to write down his goals for the future. Without hesitation he jotted down: “I hope my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up. I hope I will break the world records. I want to be the best swimmer in the world.”
He made his dream come true in style at the Rio 2016 Olympics where he picked up three gold medals and a world record.
When he first stepped onto the medal podium in Brazil, the then 20-year-old had a flashback of himself as a child.
“I was thinking of my younger self watching the Olympics and what that looked like on TV,” Murphy told NBC Sports. “That was kind of my thought when I was up there. I was flashing back to watching the Olympics.”
2 - Ryan Murphy’s ‘puke bucket’
But in order to become the best, Murphy had to eradicate a strange habit he had developed.
When he was a junior swimmer, the backstroke prodigy would get so nervous before races that he'd throw up. It happened so reliably, in fact, that his teammates made him a special bucket!
“Honestly, it’s pretty gross!” Murphy continued to NBC. “But it was the most intimidating thing ever (for other swimmers).
“I’d carry the bucket up to my races, throw up right before the race, then I’d wipe my mouth, step up on the blocks and go pretty fast!”
However, Murphy’s parents ‘got fed up’ of the ritual, and threatened to take him out of the sport if he didn’t stop. The threat actually worked and from the age of 12 onwards, he never barfed again before a race.
His high school training partners Caeleb Dressel and Joseph Schooling would presumably have been thankful not to see the spectacle!
3 - Last-minute stress in Rio
On the face of it, Murphy’s Rio 2016 Olympics went according to plan. The truth is something quite different.
Before the 100m backstroke final, Murphy’s vital pre-race sleep in the Olympic Village was interrupted by a surprise test from doping officials.
“I had it all planned out. he told The Players’ Tribune. “I was going to wake up with enough time to go through the routine I’ve been following for as long as I can remember: eat my peanut butter and jelly, get to the pool early, stretch, swim some laps, practice my flip turns….
"But sometimes things don’t go according to plan.”
To compound matters, the drug testers got lost in the village, causing delays and Murphy’s stress level to rise. After the test, the shuttle buses taking athletes to the venues was late.
“Fortunately, life at Cal had prepared me for the unexpected,” he continued. “We were not coddled there. From last-minute group projects, to impromptu cold calls to present my homework to the class, I’ve grown accustomed to being uncomfortable.
“But after eventually getting on the bus, I just kept my headphones on my ears, listened to Papa Roach’s “Last Resort,” and put myself in the zone.”
The moral of Murphy’s story? Expect the unexpected, and adapt quickly.
4 - Back shaving superstition?
Murphy appeared to have returned to his best form at the USA Olympic Trials in 2021, comfortably winning the 100m backstroke to book his place on the plane.
When asked after an impressive semi-final performance what the reason was for his up-turn in form, he quipped that it could be because he shaved his chest after the prelims.
When asked by the reporter what he’d do before the final, he replied:
“I’m going to shave my back,” he said. “Potentially, that might lead to a little bit faster!”
5 - Becoming a master investor
Murphy isn’t just making waves in the water.
Ever since the age of 12, his investing-minded family have been teaching him how to read the stock market.
His mother has a master’s degree in maths, his father was a CPA, and his grandfather has a Ph.D. in maths.
“When we get together for the family holidays, it’s definitely a nerdy crowd,” he revealed. “The stock talk was definitely a big topic of conversation.”
Murphy credits growing up around “stock talk” with helping him shake some of the nerves around investing and start building a portfolio his senior year of college.