Nine-time Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy has a lot on his plate these days. That still includes swimming, just in a different capacity than he’s used to.
Murphy, 29, has taken a break from competition since the Paris Games, where he earned a medal of every color for a second consecutive Olympics.
He still plans to bid for a fourth Olympic team in 2028, and could return to racing as early as 2026.
“There’s always a trade-off,” said Murphy, who swam at a major international meet every year from 2014 through 2024, save 2020. “These competitions are awesome, and they’re a lot of fun. But this is a time where I really want to be present in my personal life.”
Murphy and wife Bridget welcomed their first child, daughter Eevi, on Jan. 24. Her name is Finnish. Bridget’s dad is from Finland.
“I feel bad when I’m talking to other parents because she’s actually such a chill little baby,” Murphy said. “She’s been sleeping well. She’s been eating well. She seems happy. She’s smiling a lot. So life is good.”
Later in the winter, Murphy began working as an investor with Norwest Venture Partners on their growth equity team. He goes into Bay Area offices four days a week.
“I know what I want to do post-swimming,” said Murphy, who owns a degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. “So this is a great opportunity to lean in there and kind of start getting some reps.”
With all his life changes since Paris — including opening a Goldfish Swim School in his native Northeast Florida in October — Murphy is still working out seven times a week (three times in the pool), just not at the Olympic level for the moment.
“I’m trying to stay in good enough shape that when I go back to swimming full-time, I can kind of try to hit the ground running, and I’m not starting from zero,” he said.
Murphy and longtime coach Dave Durden met last September to review the 2024 Olympic season and start mapping out the 2028 Olympic cycle.
They’re excited about the addition of the 50m backstroke to the Olympic program and the potential to mix up training to possibly attack all three distances: 50m, 100m and 200m backstrokes. In the past, seven of Murphy’s nine swimming workouts per week were geared toward the 200m.
“The intensity is going to start to ramp up in 2026,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve totally locked in whether there’s a full competition schedule in 2026. I feel like that’s kind of an open negotiation. I think from the training side and from the preparedness side, I think I’ll be ready to go in 2026. But if that’s competing or not, I haven’t fully made a decision on that.”
Murphy, who turns 30 on July 2, can join his old rivals in extending backstroke success that deep into a career.
Matt Grevers swam at three World Championships in his 30s, collecting nine medals from 2015-19. David Plummer made his Olympic debut at age 30, taking 100m back bronze in 2016 and joining the 21-year-old gold medalist Murphy on the podium.
“As a competitor, it’s hard for me to be like, I’m going to hold back in this year, and not try to compete at a nationals (June 3-7) and a world championships,” Murphy said. “Because, when I’m in training, that’s kind of where my head starts going, but I have to be intentional with how I approach these four years. If I was going absolutely full throttle for the four years, I don’t think that would be good for me in 2028. Ultimately, number one goal is trying to impact the podium in 2028 and then working backwards from that.”
