Ryan Lochte returned to the pool Thursday in Mesa and finished second in the men's 200 freestyle and third in the men's 100 butterfly.
"Last year I hardly trained," said Lochte. "I was just rehabbing my knee a lot. I didn't know what to expect. I could say last year was kind of an off-year."
Lochte is looking to 2016 and qualifying for Rio, especially now that Michael Phelps is gunning to represent the U.S.
"I love racing him," he said. "He's the best swimmer in the world. He can go toe-to-toe with you in any event."
When asked about Phelps's suspension and balancing the limelight with a career in Olympic swimming, Lochte sympathized with Phelps.
"My hat goes off to him," Lochte said. "I mean he's more famous than any other swimmer. After 2012, I kind of got sucked into that lifestyle of going to red carpet events, not going to the pool at all, doing all those kind of things. You get sucked into it."
The two off-the-wall questions at the news conference included asking about Lochte's neon green argyle socks and if he plans on doing any more reality television.
"I can say I was on a reality TV show," he said. "It's really draining because you have to shoot for eight weeks straight, as soon as I woke up to when I went to bed."
