Meet the three other U.S. swimmers involved in the Ryan Lochte mess

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With details finally coming to the surface in the Ryan Lochte saga, Rio de Janeiro Olympic press officer Mario Andrada took to a microphone Thursday morning to address the situation.

“We have to understand that these kids were trying to have fun,” Andrada said. “Let’s give these kids a break. Sometimes you take actions that you later regret.”

That quote, predictably, caused many to do a double take. Lochte is 32. He’s competed at four Olympics, won six gold medals, and picked up 12 overall. He’s far from a kid.

But how about the other three swimmers that were with Lochte that night? The ones who are now stuck in Brazil, cooperating with authorities, and two of whom are reportedly confirming to police what was becoming increasingly clear: that Lochte had fabricated the story?

[Related: How Ryan Lochte turned a drunken, frat-boy night into an international mess]

Jimmy Feigen, Connor Bentz and Jack Conger are at least closer to being kids than Lochte.

Out of those three, two are still in college (Bentz and Conger), and the third (Feigen) is six years younger than Lochte. They have a combined three gold medals, and all three came in Rio as members of swim relays — relays for which Feigen (4×100 freestyle), Bentz and Conger (4×200 freestyle) swam in qualifying heats, but not in finals.

Here’s a quick look at who they are:

Jimmy Feigen

Feigen, 26, came to Rio to appear at his second Olympics. He swam the opening leg of a preliminary heat in the 4×100 freestyle relay in London. The U.S. team (not including Feigen) took home silver in the final. Feigen’s Brazil experience was similar, except that the U.S. team won gold without him in the final.

Feigen was born in Hilo, Hawaii, but moved to San Antonio, and went to the University of Texas on a swimming scholarship. He won NCAA titles in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 4×100-yard freestyle events in 2012.

In a Reddit AMA last week, one of Feigen’s answers included a line that raises a few eyebrows in hindsight: “Once the games are over the party begins!”

Gunnar Bentz

Bentz is the youngest of the group at age 20. He was born in Atlanta, and currently swims at the University of Georgia, where he is a rising junior.

Bentz won his gold medal in the 4×200 freestyle after swimming in a preliminary heat. Lochte, Townley Haas, Connor Dwyer and Michael Phelps took home gold for the U.S. in the final.

When he was 16, Bentz was a big fan of Lochte. He rooted on the swimmer on Twitter during the 2012 Olympics, even if it was at the expense of Phelps.

Bentz was one of the two swimmers who were detained at Rio’s international airport Wednesday.

Jack Conger

Conger, the other U.S. team member detained at the airport, swam in the same preliminary heat as Bentz, and got his gold when Lochte and the three other team members touched the wall first in the final.

Conger, 21, was born in Rockville, Maryland. He’s a rising senior at the University of Texas, and won three NCAA titles with the Texas swim team in 2016. The Rio Games were his first trip to the Olympics.