Washington, July 18 (ANI): American star swimmer Ryan Lochte has a surprisingly laid-back attitude when it comes to beating his U.S. teammate Michael Phelps's record and the sport of swimming.

If I beat him, I beat him. If I don't, I don't. I'm not going to hold a grudge on him or anything, Lochte told US Magazine.com about competing against Phelps, 27, during the summer's Games.

Lochte who has already nabbed spokesmodel gigs for Gillette and AT and T, claimed of not letting his sport define who he is.

I'm not going to give up anything for it. I'm still going to be exactly who I am and have fun with life. There's a lot of swimmers out there who make swimming their life, but for me, it's just a sport that I do, he said.

At the Olympic swim trials in June, Lochte defeated Phelps in the 400-meter individual medley (IM) finals and it was the same race where he nabbed the bronze medal behind Phelps (gold) and Hungarian swimmer Laszlo Cseh (silver) four years ago in China.

I think overall, I'm just a lot older, smarter, and a better athlete than I was going into Beijing. I changed my diet and I started doing heavier weight lifting, Lochte, 27, told US Weekly, who swam four events at the Games and took home two gold (one earned as a group) and two bronze. (ANI)