Tyler Clary marches to the beat of a different drummer, and it has landed him on TMZ.com. After defeating Ryan Lochte in London, winning Olympic gold in 200 meters backstroke, Clary’s getting a taste of fame beyond the pool.
Yes, Clary swims, and is considered by many to be the hardest working man in the sport, but he likes other things as well, things that trump visits to the White House to meet President Obama and the First Lady.
On September 14th the 2012 Olympic athletes will visit the White House, as they do after most Olympic Games, but Clary won’t be there, according to TMZ.
“I’d rather race cars,” Clary has explained.
Clary’s competitive nature goes beyond the pool deck to pro racing on the track, and he appears to have real designs on refining his skills. He’ll be in Fontana, California September 14th test driving cars and then on to the MATV 500 IndyCar Event the following day.
Clary also DJs. You can hear his sound here.
Checkout Clary’s complete photo vault here.
And you have to follow this man on Twitter, re: puppies, music, cars and more!
First off, Clary is NOT involved with politics at all. He has nothing against Obama, and this is SWIMSWAM, not Fox.
Lochte was not at the white house visit. Where was he? Fashion week in NYC. He wants to be a clothing designer when he’s done swimming. Why isn’t anyone giving him the hard time about attending something to help get himself out there in the fashion world like Clary was doing in the racing world? And Fashion week happens every year….
This article opened up so many doors for Clary in the racing world!! If you read the original TMZ article, it wasn’t negative. Racing sponsors, team owners, and teams saw this across the country and it is… Read more »
Could you guys post a list of Olympic swimmers that did or didn’t go to this White House ceremony? This makes it sound like Clary is the only one who “blew off” the invitation and unfairly paints him as a bad guy. I’m sure he wasn’t the only one who didn’t attend.
I think it’s a great move. I wouldn’t care to meet Obama either. If anyone is unpatriotic it is Obama and Clary must feel the same way. Snub my ass, maybe if our president wasn’t such an arrogant narcissist, Clary would go. Well done Tyler
Help! I regret swimswam becomes now a political forum and a place for extremists. It’s a swimming website!
Agreed!
Seriously. Is this Swim Swam or Fox News?
Missy Franklin didn’t go and neither did Katie Ledecky. Missy didn’t go because of school and Ledecky was at USAS accepting her performance of the year award. They are CLEARLY unpatriotic and don’t get it just like Clary….
For Missy it’s weird because on her twitter we learn she was in Washington one day before the visit. You are wrong about Katie Ledecky because she was at the White House on Friday. And if I have well understood she was also at the USA swimming convention on Saturday for an award. She is everywhere.
Ledecky lives in the DC area, so I assume it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to go to the White House visit and then catch a short flight down to Greensboro.
My apologies for the error on Ledecky, appears her name has been removed from the domestic terrorist lists…
And just for info sake, Katie was back at practice with her group at 6:30 Saturday morning. She is everywhere indeed.
Bobo Gigi is absolutely correct.
Ok, I didn’t know this website I like was now a political forum. I thought it was just a swimming website.
I think the reasoning behind his decision to not attend an assembly line hello from the president (nothing for the Olympians compared to the attention a campaign donor receives) is less politically driven than most of you speculate. There is such a finite window for athletes to capitalize on their Olympic success, particularly for a lesser known star of the sport trying to build their brand. If the phone is ringing, you better answer it if you want to fund four more years of training. Tyler won’t get any publicity from the honor of meeting the president, and it is an honor regardless of whether you lean left or right. He’s getting quite a lot of publicity (even now as… Read more »
I have a feeling Gary is right on the money–and has a little more personal experience in the matter than the rest of us.
I agree completely. And just to re-iterate – my issue wasn’t that he isn’t going, it was his comments about it and the way he went about it. Heck, the fact that he brought attention to it in the first place.
Again, I’m not a Tyler Clary fan at all (mainly because of the Phelps comments / timing of them) but here is the list of swimming Olympians going to the White House…..there are really big names missing from the list.
Swimmer Tyler Clary was the only athlete to have his refusal to attend go public, with a report on TMZ stating that he already has plans to drive race cars and attend the IndyCar Series race in Fontana, Calif., on Saturday.
Swimmers attending the White House event:
Alyssa Anderson, Elizabeth Beisel, Clark Burckle, Claire Donahue, Conor Dwyer, Jimmy Feigen, Andrew Gemmell, Jessica Hardy, Kathleen Hersey, Conor Jaeger, Kara Lynn Joyce, Ariana Kukors, Breeja Larson, Tyler McGill, Matt McLean,… Read more »
I think that list was posted in swimmingworld, i believe. I’m not sure how they got that info because I know for sure Katie Ledecky and Missy Franklin are there (according to their twitters). Anthony Ervin said he really wanted to go but had already committed to a friend’s wedding happening the same day. Nathan Adrian also said he wasn’t able to go. But I have to admit a few of the bigger names (not just the big two) are surprisingly not there. Regardless of political affiliation, coming together with all other olympians and meeting the president should be a huge honor. I’m guessing they probably had prior commitments.
Phelps tweeted he is going.