For people whose lives revolve around the water, Ryan Lochte says Michael Phelps left him high and dry.

Lochte, reeling since the unraveling of his tale of being robbed at gunpoint by men masquerading as Rio police, tried to find refuge in his swimming big brother, the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Instead, after Lochte “over-exaggerated” the Summer Olympics story that is still unclear — Lochte has been accused of vandalism at the gas station — Phelps offered him a couple of text messages, but nothing more.

Lochte said he didn’t leave his house in Charlotte for six days as the controversy played out in August and he reached out to Phelps.

“I think he texted me back saying, ‘Yeah, sure. I’m here to help,’ or something like that,’’ Lochte told USA Today in an extensive feature. “But he didn’t call me. I was like, ‘Hey, can you please call me? Let me know, I need help.’ That never really happened.”

Lochte noted Phelps’ downfall and rise, after he was charged with a pair of DUIs, one in 2004 and another in 2014. With Phelps now again an American hero and sweetheart, Lochte felt his wisdom could help him navigate the comeback waters. But Phelps apparently never dialed the phone, and Lochte was left finding excuses for his friend’s icy turn.

“He’s busy,’’ Lochte said. “He has his own life. He has a kid. So it’s gotta be hard, you know?’’

Lochte’s tale of desertion is much different than Phelps’. The Olympics icon publicly empathized with Lochte in the aftermath, saying he had contacted his pal and wanted to see him bounce back.

“Ryan and I have been teammates forever and it’s always hard to see a friend and a competitor going through a hard time like this — I know what it feels like. I’ve been through it before,” Phelps told People in late August.

“Hopefully he can come out of this a better person. I’ve reached out to him a couple times and I think he understands a lot. He will be able to grow from this.”

Phelps’ alleged cold shoulder has had company. Lochte has felt abandoned by much of his swimming world, the irony twisted after Lochte left his teammates behind in Rio to sort through the story to police. Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, who stayed behind to face Brazil’s scrutiny as Lochte was sheltered in the US, have all talked with the disgraced star since. But while they’re cordial, Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, can feel the distance.

“They don’t reach out as much or they don’t respond as much, which I totally understand,’’ he said.