Lochte Missouri – Olympic star Ryan Lochte’s job as assistant swim coach at Missouri State has become the latest flashpoint in his bitter divorce battle with estranged wife Kayla Reid, with Reid described as furious over how the move could affect their three children.
Ryan Lochte’s new life as a collegiate swim coach has hardly even started—and already it’s colliding with the most personal part of his past.
Lochte, 41, announced earlier this month that he will join Missouri State University as an assistant swim coach. The role will take him—at least some of the time—away from his home in Gainesville, Florida, to a campus roughly a 15-hour drive away.
But just as he steps into a new job. his estranged wife. Kayla Reid. is said to be furious about what it could mean for their three children. Reid and Lochte share Caiden, eight, Liv, six, and Georgia, two. Their marriage lasted seven years before Reid filed for divorce in March 2025. and the breakup has already been marked by pointed allegations and lingering anger.
The latest dispute centers on timing and distance. Reid is described as believing the move will be challenging for their children, who would remain with her in Florida. A source close to Reid says the kids are at an age where they “don’t fully understand distance” and what a long-distance parenting schedule means over the long term. The same source adds that her “main concern has always been the emotional well-being and stability of the children.”.
Lochte has offered an arrangement intended to ease the separation. He has reportedly offered Reid the house and everything in it. along with $25. 000. if she would let the children go with him to Missouri. Lochte. speaking through the same report. also said he will return to Florida “every single month. ” and that he will visit on breaks. holidays. and summers.
Reid’s position, however, is firm. The report says she has no plans to move the children to Missouri because they are established in the Gainesville school system.
That tension sits alongside a deeper rupture between the two. Reid hinted at “betrayal” when she revealed their split earlier this year. The divorce was officially announced in June 2025. three months after the initial filing. when Reid posted on Instagram that ending the marriage was a “hard decision” made after “deep prayer and reflection. ” describing a season that was “painful” and “challenging.”.
Lochte’s path after the divorce has been equally combustible in public. After he was spotted cozying up to kindergarten teacher Molly Gillihan, he denied any overlap between relationships. Earlier this year. he confirmed he had moved into a new home with Gillihan. a 37-year-old kindergarten teacher and a mother of three children.
In January. Lochte told People that he “fell in love with someone who shares those same values and who has three children of her own. ” describing their household as a “family of six kids.” He added: “She’s my best friend. our kids have formed an incredible bond. and it became clear that being together under one roof was the right next step for all of us.”.
Lochte’s new coaching decision, according to the same report, is tied to that fallout. He claimed, “Gainesville hates me,” and suggested that the hostility surrounding his new relationship was part of his thinking when considering a new city and job.
Missouri State University’s move is also not a minor career shift. Lochte remains one of the most decorated Olympic athletes in history. and the program he’s joining has a strong pedigree in swimming. Missouri State has long been one of the nation’s best mid-major swimming programs: its men have won 21 conference championships and its women have won 18. The head coach, Dave Collins, has been voted the conference’s top coach on 13 occasions.
Collins welcomed Lochte to the coaching staff, saying, “We are very excited to welcome Ryan to the coaching staff. Beyond his lengthy list of accomplishments as an athlete. Ryan has a work ethic that will translate very well on deck as a coach. When you have the opportunity to bring in one of the best ever in our sport. you do everything you can to make it happen.”.
The scrutiny around Lochte’s life doesn’t stop at this divorce. His swimming career has also been shaped by controversies, including an incident at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Lochte claimed at the time that he was among four American swimmers who were robbed by armed men while competing. Later. it emerged those men were guards at a gas station where Lochte allegedly vandalized a poster. leading to an apology from him and a 10-month suspension from USA Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Two years after that, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended Lochte for 14 months for receiving a “prohibited intravenous infusion” of what he claimed were vitamins. Lochte had posted a picture of the injection on social media before deleting it.
Now. with the Missouri coaching job set to pull him away from home at least part of the time. the question at the center of the divorce battle is immediate and practical: whether the children stay in Gainesville—where they’re already established—or follow him to Missouri. and how distance will affect their day-to-day stability.
For Reid, the frustration is not abstract. For Lochte, the commitment is expressed through promises to return monthly, and through the personal stakes of uprooting a family. And for a new chapter in collegiate athletics, the timing could not feel more complicated.
Ryan Lochte Kayla Reid Missouri State assistant swim coach divorce battle child custody Gainesville Molly Gillihan Caiden Liv Georgia