Unless you follow college swimming, you don't know who Tyler Clary is. So let me introduce you to him: Clary is the guy who totally out-works Michael Phelps. And as difficult as it is to take anyone named Tyler seriously, he sounds quite sure of himself.
You probably do know who Phelps is, but if not, let me introduce you: he's the fat, lazy, good-for-nothing slob who's taking up space on the USA Olympic swimming roster. He's even said so himself.
Phelps won six gold medals and two bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and at the 2008 games in Beijing, he won gold in all eight events he swam in. But Tyler Clary can't help but think that Phelps never lived up to his potential, and wonders what could have been if only Phelps had trained as hard as he does.
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"The fact that he doesn’t have to work as hard to get that done, it’s a real shame," Clary said. "I think it’s too bad. You see that all too often, where you get athletes that are incredibly talented that really take it for granted. I think the things he could have done if he’d worked as hard as I do would have been even more incredible than what he has pulled off."
What a waste of talent. Imagine what Phelps would have done in China if he trained harder. Won nine gold medals in his eight events???
I get where Clary is coming from though. I, too, wasn't blessed with the talent that Michael Phelps was, and it frustrates the hell out of me, because I also train way harder than Phelps does, and I never get any credit for it.
"I’ve always called myself more of a blue-collar worker, as far as swimming goes," Clary said. "I work my ass off all the time. That’s not to say that everybody else doesn’t. But the fact that I know I work harder than (Phelps) does makes me appreciate every little goal and every little gain that I make.“And the day that it happens, when I finally beat him, is going to be a huge deal in my mind, because it would be complete satisfaction. And the only thing that would be better than that is breaking the world record."
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Interestingly enough, Phelps has gone on record acknowledging that he indeed let himself go and lost his edge in training after the highs of Beijing. But it's a little different coming from Phelps mouth, than from a guy who's never swam in the Olympics, no? Here's what Phelps told Details Magazine:
"It was weird going from the highest of the high, the biggest point of your life—winning eight gold medals—and then saying, “All right, where do I go from here?” I wasn’t motivated. I did nothing, literally nothing, for a long time. I gained 25 pounds. A friend of mine and I were playing football on the beach in Miami, and somebody got a picture of us and put it all over the place. And he’s like, “Bro, you gotta start working out, man. You are fat.” So I started going through the motions again. I would go back for a week or two and then stop. I’d show up for dry-land practice and then just sneak out the back door so nobody saw me. I was watching Rocky II the other day—the one where he’s fighting Apollo for the second time and he’s just going through the motions. It reminded me of how I was."
All the attention on USA men's swimming for this summer's London games has focused on the rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, who has been just a half step behind the 14-gold-medal-winner over the past Olympics cycles. Is there room in London for third-wheel Tyler Clary? I guess we'll find out when the brash no-name finally dips his toes into an Olympic pool.
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