I Stalked Ryan Lochte — And He Complimented My Sneakers

Not kidding. Also, he is GREAT, looks-wise and personality-wise, in the flesh.

At about 8:30 p.m. British time, Ryan Lochte tweeted the above message. I decided to take him up on his offer. So within minutes of the tweet I was babbling to a cab driver — who clearly didn't know who Ryan is — about how important it was to get to the Punchbowl quickly so I could gawk at and hopefully talk to a super-famous Olympian.

This is the Punchbowl. It's in Mayfair, and very close to where I recently had a very nice Olympics-related lunch. It's a venue owned by Madonna's ex-husband, Guy Ritchie, and apparently a well-known celebrity haunt. I'd never heard of it, but I've lived in New York for the past three years and I'm more of a "drink wine at home in sweatpants" kind of person anyway. No celebrities were present tonight — other than Ryan Lochte and fellow Team USA swimmer Conor Dwyer.

I arrived at about 9:20. I think I was the first "fan" to make it — which was awkward. I squeezed my way through crowd around the bar at the front of the pub, finding no Ryan, and wandered into the seating area in the rear. I scanned the room, and oh, no big deal, Ryan Lochte is just sitting there with Conor Dwyer and some other people at a table and they're eating and it's a small group and totally not what I was expecting (velvet ropes, a throne, and rhinestone high-tops, obviously).


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