He also earned a gold medal as part of the 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay in Athens. And at the 2007 World Championships last March, Lochte shattered the world record in the 200-meter backstroke on his way to capturing a gold medal, serving notice for what may come at the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Lochte (pronounced LOCK-tee) swims 3 to 5 miles most days, sometimes even twice a day. Few non-Olympic hopefuls could, or would want to, replicate that kind of distance. But other aspects of the 23-year-old Lochte's training (such as his use of fins and buoys) and routines (his dryland exercises) can be adopted by recreational swimmers or athletes, and perhaps even by parent coaches facing a rough patch with their teenage prot¨¦g¨¦s.

Even though Lochte has been swimming since he was 9, he has not yet perfected his strokes. "I spend more time on stroke mechanics now than I ever have,"he said.

He also spends part of each practice slowing things way down.

"The only way to really work on technique is to swim very slowly and really think about every little thing that you're doing," he said. "How your body is positioned, what your hips are doing, the positioning of your shoulders and hands and feet."