Ryan Lochte’s estranged wife Kayla Rae Reid has some concerns about him taking an assistant coaching job for the Missouri State swim program, according to TMZ.
The former “Playboy” model, who filed for divorce from Lochte last March, is worried about the emotional well-being and stability of their three young children, who will be subjected to a long-distance parenting schedule.
Reid and their kids — son Caiden Zane, 8, and daughters Liv Rae, 7, and Georgia June, 2 — are staying in Gainesville, Fla., as they’re established in the school system there.
The exes have been embroiled in a public messy divorce, often feuding across social media.
The Missouri State campus is about a 15-hour drive from Gainesville.
“I will be back every single month to see my kids,” Lochte told TMZ, adding that he plans to visit them on breaks, holidays and during summers — and will spend his $30,000 coaching salary to do so.
“I have to start this coaching job to be where I need to be for them. I love them,” Lochte said.
“And I pray one day they see this truly was all for them. I plan to just go up from here in the coaching world and I could not do that while in Gainesville.”
According to his contract, obtained by Front Office Sports, Lochte will earn an estimated $30,000 and will be eligible for bonuses, which include $750 for a Missouri Valley Conference men’s and women’s championship or co-championship.
It includes $500 bonuses for each NCAA Championship individual qualifier and each relay team that qualifies for the NCAA Championship, per FOS.
Lochte explained that living in Gainesville was “no longer healthy or feasible” for him and his girlfriend, Molly Gillihan, who met at their kids’ schools.
“Gainesville hates me,” Lochte said. “We are shunned here by the constant bullying and harassment we get on a daily basis from my ex.”
The six-time Olympic gold medal winner claimed Gillihan lost her job due to Reid and her friends allegedly calling her place of work and saying she was sleeping with a married man.
Lochte previously denied that he got together with Gillihan while still with Reid.
Reid is focused on coparenting respectfully and putting the children first, rather than feud in the public eye, a source close to her told TMZ, adding that she isn’t interested in tearing down Lochte but prefers to move forward with with grace and maturity.
Reid, who works as a realtor in Gainesville, made their divorce public in a note posted to her Instagram Story last June, which said her seven-year marriage to Lochte was “irretrievably broken.”