Paris 2024 Olympics: Ryan Murphy drawing on lessons from the past to improve as a swimmer and a leader
Ryan Murphy has done about everything an elite swimmer can do. He’s won Olympic gold medals, topped world championship podiums, and broken world records. At 29, he is one of the most experienced members of the U.S. swimming team for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In an interview with Olympics.com, he spoke about using the lessons he has learned to become a better leader.
“It's looking at how the previous generations treated me. I'm so thankful for the support that they've shown me and I think they've done that all in different ways. Lenny Krayzelburg is someone who I've really connected with over the years, and we just kind of bond on the raw competitiveness. We really want to get in some work and try to maximize fitness. And then I think there's someone like Aaron Peirsol who has got that raw competitiveness as well. But he likes to talk a little bit more about the flow of the stroke and the technique and how to balance working for a 200 back with 100 back. For the generation that is coming up behind me, I think the easiest thing to do is just sharing experiences that I've had, like, what has the final looked like the last five years? And how do people react to pressure? What are their instincts? And kind of passing on real race tips,” Murphy said.
When Murphy started his Olympic career, he was still in college at California. He still trains in Berkeley, but his personal life is different. Murphy was married in September of 2023, and he said the support from his wife helped him keep perspective as he prepared for these Games in Paris.
“When you have to analyze swimming things at such a granular level and really be a perfectionist, it's easy to turn that perfectionism in on yourself and start analyzing your own personality characteristics and stuff like that. Having her gives me a lot of great balance in my life. She's someone who could say, 'Hey, Ryan, you're going a little bit too hard at this, like, you can be a little bit softer on yourself today'. She's great for me and helps me keep a level head on things.”
How Ryan Murphy has stayed competitive for a decade
Murphy said that he doesn’t often need motivation for a race because he is so competitive. But when he’s training and heeds a boost, he can rely on those previous wins to remind him of what he’s capable of, and those competitors who have pushed him.
“I'm honestly almost drawing on memories to get the motivation. I'll think about world championships last year and use that to get myself fired up because a lot of times, I’m going against similar athletes. There’s always going to be some young kid that comes up and has a great year and you just can't really plan for it. You know that there's going to be at least one of those, you just don't know where it's going to come from. But there are a lot of people who have been in the in the Worlds final in the previous couple years or the previous Olympic final who are still really good. And I'm kind of using that competitiveness as a way to motivate me,” Murphy said.
At the 2022 World Championships, Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon beat Murphy for the gold medal and broke Murphy’s world record in the 100m backstroke. Hubert Kós from Hungary beat Murphy by less than a second at the 2023 World Championships to win gold. Murphy wants to keep racing both men because of how they push him.
“I love to race. What's nice about swimming is that there are eight lanes, so, there's no shortage of competition anywhere, and I definitely never want to overlook anyone. I'd love to get the opportunity to race Thomas Ceccon again. He's a really, really great athlete. And I like the way he swims, so he's a fun person to race and he's got a good personality too,” Murphy said. “In the 200 back, I got beat last summer by Hubi Kós from Hungary and he's training in the US so I've seen him a couple of times but I'm looking forward to racing him in the long course pool again.”
Murphy is racing in the 100m and 200m backstroke at Paris 2024, hoping to add to the six medals (four gold, one silver and one bronze) he has added to his trophy cabinet since his Olympic debut at Rio 2016. If he seems laid back on race days, it’s because he was nervous months ago. Race days, he just has to swim.
“Relatively, I'm pretty chill at swim meets, so like I'm kind of at that point. I'm realistically more nervous three months out of the meet than I am on race day, because the way that I think three months out of the meet, there are still so many things that I could do to improve, and so I like turning the wheels in my head to figure out what are all these things that I could do to get a little bit better. On race day, really, all I'm trying to do is just maximize what I have, just getting raw with the competitiveness. I'm trying to just get myself fired up,” Murphy said.