Olympic Swimming Legend Mark Spitz Sounds Off On Ryan Lochte Mess

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)  —   Olympic gold medalist legend Mark Spitz was scheduled to make a meet-and-greet public appearance Friday night at the downtown Santa Monica Metro Expo line.

While Spitz was set to sign autographs and pose with riders, everyone, of course, wanted to know his take on the Ryan Lochte mess.

Spitz spoke with CBS2's Jeff Nguyen. He wasted no time weighing in on Lochte.

"I'm sort of sad that it happened in the first place," he said.

Spitz called the entire episode an unnecessary distraction.

"Unfortunately," he said, "this sort of stole that attention away from the some of the great performances."

Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich games, a personal record medal haul that stood until broken by Michael Phelps in 2008. Moreover, all Spitz's gold medals in 1972 were won in world record time, an accomplishment that has never been equaled. In all, Spitz has nine gold medals (the other two came in the 1968 Mexico City games.) He also has a silver and a bronze Olympic medal, five Pan American gold medals and 31 amateur athletic titles to fill out his trophy case.

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As someone who represented the country on several occasions, Spitz could weigh in on whether Lochte should continue to have the USA on his back -- before the controversy, Lochte said he was considering trying out for the games in Tokyo four years from now.

Nguyen asked Spitz if that was a good idea.

"I'm not the judge and jury nor the executioner," he said, "I think that U.S. swimming will evaluate a lot of what that means. I don't know what the possibilities might be."

He does believe sports fans tend to be forgiving and have a short-term memory and that he thinks Lochte deserves a second chance.

Metro and the Los Angeles 2024 Olympic Candidature Committee is showcasing gold medalists from the past to visit Metro stations as a way to thank riders for going Metro. It's also away to honor past champions and build enthusiasm for a bid by Los Angeles to be host city for the 2024 games.

A pin-up poster of Spitz in a red, white and blue Speedo with seven gold medals around his neck became iconic and one of the best-selling posters of all time.

Spitz, now 66, has been married to wife Suzy Weiner since 1973. The couple have two sons, Justin and Matthew Spitz.