Swim city! As Harry flies home to face the music pictures emerge of the young royal racing Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte at raucous 3am Vegas pool party

Party-mad Prince Harry locked horns with U.S. gold medal winner Ryan Lochte in an amazing 3am swimming race at a Las Vegas pool party during his hedonistic trip to sin city.
The pair cleared a makeshift path amid a group of bikini-clad girls for the showdown at the exclusive Wynn hotel and thrashed their way across the open air pool to the delight of the crowd.
As an Olympic gold medal winning swimmer it was no surprise that Lochte, 28, beat the 27-year-old Royal to the edge, but a topless Harry looked delighted with his performance.

Topless Prince Harry prepares to race medal winner Ryan Lochte, seen here in a soaking wet t-shirt

The pair prepare to clear a path amid bikini-clad girls at the early morning pool party

Harry and Lochte countdown to the 10 metre dash across the open air pool

Afterwards Lochte, who won two gold, two silver and one bronze medal in the London Olympics celebrated by punching the air before the pair embraced as dance music blared out in the XS nightclub.
The American wore a printed white t-shirt which became completely see-though as the water soaked it through.

 

The two men had not arrived at the party together but bumped in to each other in the VIP section of the club, one of four in the Las Vegas hotel, which features thirty luxury poolside cabanas.
According to the Wynn website the XS nightclub is 'inspired by the luscious curves of the human body.'
Harry was certainly inspired, enthusiastically throwing himself in to the party spirit - and the pool - in the early hours of the morning

Harry was pipped to first place by the Olympic swimmer but still looked delighted with his pool party performance

A partygoer revealed on Twitter that Harry got a head start as a fellow reveller grabbed hold of Lochte's legs as he kicked off for the one-length race

Harry shows off his moves in the XS nightclub pool as music blares in the background

Lochte and Harry bumped in to each other in the VIP section of the Wynn hotel's nightclub before jumping in to the pool at 3am

Harry wore his soaking wet jeans for the rest of the evening after his pool race with Lochte

At 3am, bare-chested but still in his jeans, the prince jumped in to the club’s huge open-air pool.

He was joined by the fully-clothed swimmer and Lochte theatrically counted down to three on one hand as he gave Harry a head start before heading off in hot pursuit.

Strangely – not least because he boasts several world records – Lochte only just beat the prince.

The truth, however, was revealed by another partygoer on Twitter, who said a fellow reveller had grabbed hold of  Lochte’s legs as he kicked off for the one-length race. The tactic didn’t quite pay off – though some insisted it was Harry who won.

High jinks: Harry, right, challenged gold medal-winner Ryan Lochte to a race in the pool of Vegas nightclub XS - and unsurprisingly was beaten by the Olympic champ

Letting his heir down: Prince Harry relaxed poolside surrounded by bikini-clad girls in Vegas and even played naked billiards put the public appear to want to back him for it

Centre of attention: Prince Harry casts a lingering glance in the direction of the stunning blonde as he enjoys himself during a pool party in Las Vegas

Party prince: Harry needed a rest after all that Olympic duty but it appears the fun may have got out of hand after he was pictured naked with a young woman

Today Harry is preparing for a showdown with Clarence House after sensational pictures of the him cavorting naked in a Las Vegas hotel suite hit the Internet.
Wearing nothing but a distinctive necklace, the prince is seen in the pictures giving a topless girl a 'bear-hug', his bare bottom facing the camera.
In another shot he uses his hands to protect his modesty while his brunette companion uses his nude body to shield hers.

 

Yesterday the sheepish prince was seen chatting to friends in Los Angeles car park and the third in line to the throne refused to comment when quizzed by a reporter before he prepared to travel home.
The scandalous nude pictures make his topless swimming race with the U.S. champion seem rather tame, but Lochte, who was in Las Vegas celebrating his 28th birthday still had fun.
He told the Mail in a statement: ‘It was really fun swimming against Prince Harry. He’s a great guy, and it was a huge honor [sic] to meet him.

‘I was surprised that he challenged me actually. I didn’t know if he had any skills in the pool, but I definitely wasn’t going to take it easy on him!

‘He was a great competitor but in the end it was Team USA all the way to the wall!!  Next time I’m in the UK it’d be fun to challenge him to something on his own turf.’

Harry managed to beat Usian Bolt in a 20-yard dash earlier this year – by distracting him at the start.
Earlier that day, Harry had found himself surrounded by a gaggle of leggy lovelies who had made a bee-line for Las Vegas’s Encore Beach Club as news spread that the playboy prince was in town.
The prince had been filmed enjoying the poolside entertainment at the MGM Grand hotel and throwing a lingering glance towards one of the stunning bikini-clad women by a camera from television station 'Extra'.

Winding down: Prince Harry jetted out to Las Vegas - known as Sin City - for a little 'rest and recreation'

In white fedora and red floral shorts, 27-year-old Harry lapped up the attention of his new fan club on the latest leg of what has been dubbed his ‘endless summer’ before returning to the front line as a helicopter pilot.
He also lapped up copious amounts of his favourite Grey Goose vodka as well as some of the many cocktails on offer in Sin City.
Days after the London Olympics, at which he was an official ambassador for Team GB, Harry jetted out to the US for a little ‘rest and recreation’.
This took him to Vegas at the weekend, accompanied by two taxpayer-funded police bodyguards and his best friend, Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip.
The party checked into a £450-a-night suite at the five-star Wynn hotel and casino for some ‘full-on partying’, as the prince told one fellow guest.
The group were seen playing the dice game craps, to the cheering and whooping of their fellow gamblers.
The following day Harry and Co headed off to a £950-a-day poolside bungalow at another Las Vegas landmark, the MGM Grand.
The hotel hosts raucous alcohol-fuelled parties four times a week under the brand ‘Wet Republic’, which attract up to 1,600 revellers to its two giant saltwater pools.

Party-boy: 'Prince Harry, far right in a hat, went to Vegas to relax after the Olympics but it gout of hand

Outside Harry’s bungalow was a private Jacuzzi from which the prince and his group chatted to a group of girls who had taken the cabana next door and ordered drinks from a menu boasting £65 pitchers of ‘dragonberry’ mojitos.

Party-loving: Prince Harry was spotted at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas enjoying a short break with friends

Just a few bungalows down was singer Jennifer Lopez, 43, and her dancer toyboy Casper Smart, 25, although it is understood they did not meet the prince.
At one point Harry borrowed a red singlet from the ‘bachelorette’ (an America term for hen party) girls next door and jumped on a friend’s shoulders, waving his hands in the air.
‘They had a blow-up whale in their area and were just fooling around, having some drinks and enjoying themselves,’ an onlooker said.
The excited ladies couldn’t resist taking to Twitter, posting pictures of them posing with the prince alongside giggly accounts of what a ‘gentleman’ he was.

One member of staff also admitted having ‘creepily’ kept the water bottle from which he had drunk.
The following day the group were in the water again, this time at the 60,000 square foot Encore Beach Club for another ‘adult pool party’, taking a bungalow with its own infinity hot tub.

The entertainment was rounded off with a visit to the resort’s XS nightclub where other VIP guests included US Olympic champion swimmer Ryan Lochte.
Harry has recently re-trained as an elite Apache attack helicopter pilot and completed a period of pre-deployment training with hopes of returning to the front line in Afghanistan in the near future.

A spokesman stressed that he was on a private holiday and was not entitled to any more leave than his fellow pilots.

He attended the Olympics in his own time and was not given any special dispensation by the military.

Victory: When faced with a race against Usain Bolt, Prince Harry knew there was only one way he could ever win. Cheat

Viva Las Vegas: Prince Harry was joined by several friends at a private bungalow on the grounds of the MGM Grand on the Vegas strip