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Ryan Lochte raced the best swimmers in the world at the 2012 London Olympics, but it's his race against a royal that has everyone talking.

Last weekend, Britain's Prince Harry challenged Ryan to a 2 a.m. race in a Las Vegas pool, and Ryan tells ET, "Even though he was part of the royal family, I wasn't going to let him win."

"His people came over and asked, do you want to meet Prince Harry. And I was like, oh, by all means," ever-polite Ryan tells ET.

He says of racing the prince, "I was like, I better win! That's the only thing that was really going through my mind."

But when it comes to his experience with the prince, Ryan sums it up: "Great guy, really nice, he was just like one of us, nothing was different." (Prince Harry of course made news in Las Vegas for more than just his race against Lochte – photos were published online showing the royal in the buff playing "strip billiards" with some ladies.)

PICS: What Happened in Vegas This Weekend

Ryan also reveals his celebrity crush to ET – Blake Lively! He says he's been receiving a lot of TV offers, and he'd definitely be up to co-star with Blake on Gossip Girl, but cautions, "You might not see words come out of my mouth because I'll be like ... uhhhh."

But though Ryan says he'll take any TV or film offers that don't get in the way of his swimming, he's dismissed suggestions from his team to add extra security, because, as he puts it, "I'm not a celebrity."

Related: Five Things You Don't Know About Ryan Lochte

For more with Ryan, check out our video and his new fitness DVD, Lochte Hard-CORE.