Lochte accepts responsibility for 'immature behavior'

Ryan Lochte's initial apology for the gas station incident that has been the talk of the Rio games was met with criticism and accusations of not going far enough.

On Saturday in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, Lochte again offered an apology, taking more responsibility for exaggerating what happened by initially calling the incident a robbery.

"That's why I'm taking full responsibility for it is because I over-exaggerated that story," Lochte said. "If I never had done that, we wouldn't be in this mess.

"None of this would have happened and it was my immature behavior."

Lochte, along with fellow U.S. swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and James Feigen, were involved in an incident with security guards where guns were drawn. After Lochte originally said the foursome were robbed at gunpoint, the story changed a few days later as police investigated the matter.

Both Conger and Bentz released statements recently that detailed what happened Sunday morning at the now infamous gas station. Both indicated Lochte tore down a sign, and that a heated exchange with security guards took place, with Bentz stating Lochte yelled at the guards.

Lochte maintains that because of the language barrier and the intensity of the situation, it was difficult to ascertain what exactly was happening with the guards.

"It's how you want to make it look like, whether you call it a robbery, whether you call it extortion, or us paying just for the damages, we don't know," Lochte told Lauer. "All we know is there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money."

The group ended up giving around $33 to the security guards, according police. Lochte was asked by Lauer why, if there was a translator present at the time, would that be viewed as anything other than a settlement for the damages.

"We just wanted to get out of there. We were held," Lochte said. "There was a gun pointed in our direction. We were all frightened and we wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, and the only way we knew is this guy is saying you have to give them money. So we gave them money and we got out."