Is Ryan Lochte Off the Market?

Gold medalist Ryan Lochte may have fallen for a fellow champion: Miss USA Olivia Culpo. The Olympic swimmer accompanied the beauty queen to several events during New York City's Fashion Week, checking out Venus Williams' tennis clothing line on Wednesday and Sherri Hill's collection (featuring models Kendall and Kylie Jenner) on Friday. Is America's most eligible young bachelor off the market?

When confronted by E! News, Lochte, 28, didn't give a straight answer about whether he was seeing Culpo, 20. But he had no shortage of nice things to say about his date.

"She is beautiful. I love hanging out with her," gushed the swimming champ. "She has a great sense of humor, she makes me laugh, she's just a good girl to hang out with."

"And you know what?" he added. "She was telling me yesterday that she had never done a pageant until like a year ago, and now she's Miss USA. So she's got something."

And now she's also got Ryan's number. Lucky girl!

Lochte's team is downplaying the romance, which reportedly began on Wednesday at a party hosted by shoe designer Brian Atwood. "It's too early to say they're 'dating,'" Lochte's spokesperson told the NY Daily News. "They get along well and they've been to a couple events, but to my knowledge, they're not 'dating.'"

However, an anonymous source told the paper that romance is in the air.

"Things are still very new, because they just met, and they obviously aren’t exclusive, but they definitely like each other," a friend told the Daily News.

Culpo hasn't commented to the media on dating rumors, saying only that Lochte is "a good guy." Can't say we blame her for being cautious. Just last week, the Olympian was telling the press about his crushes on Blake Lively (sorry, Ryan -- she already has a Ryan!) and on Paris Hilton, whom he also met at the Brian Atwood party. And of course, he's expressed interest in doing a season of The Bachelor. Sounds like a guy who's keeping his options open!