TWO Olympic swimmers were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.S. on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his teammates.

    U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky confirmed Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were detained but had no other details.

    The action comes amid increasing tension between Brazilian authorities and the American swimmers over their account of the robbery.

    Lochte said he was with Conger, Bentz and Jimmy Feigen when they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by men with a police badge as they returned to the athletes village from a party Sunday. Police have found little evidence so far to support their accounts, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.

    NBC reported Wednesday night that Lochte backed off some of his earlier claims. He now says the taxi wasn’t pulled over but that they were robbed after making a stop at a gas station.

    He also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.

    The investigation intensified Wednesday as the swimmers started heading home to the U.S., and a Brazilian judge ordered the seizure of Lochte and Feigen’s passports.

    Lochte has already returned to the U.S., and Conger and Bentz boarded a plane later Wednesday only to be removed by the authorities. Feigen’s whereabouts are not known, though he told the San Antonio Express-News he was still in Brazil.

    A police official with knowledge of the investigation said that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses from the robbery.

    The group did not call police, authorities said, and officers began investigating once they saw media reports in which Lochte’s mother spoke about the robbery. Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said. The swimmers also could not say what time the events occurred.

    Lochte swam in two events at the Rio Games, winning gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Bentz, 21, and Conger, 20, also earned gold for swimming in the preliminary heats of the 4x200 relay. Feigen, 26, received gold for swimming in the heats of the 4x100 free relay, which was won by the U.S. (SD-Agencies)