Since the Olympics are coming up, I decided I would do an Olympic post. I was reading an article online today from the USA Today about an Olympic swimmer named Tyler Clary who said that Michael Phelps does not work hard during training and acts like he does not want to be at practice. There are a few things wrong in this article. First off, who is this 23 year old Olympic swimmer to call out maybe the best Olympic swimmer, if not the best Olympian of all time. The second thing is talent can only get someone so far before they have to put in the work to be the best person in the world at their sport. Lastly, Clary has yet to beat him in any events that they both swim in.
Tyler Clary just needs to keep his mouth shut until he can prove that he has the credentials to call out the best swimmer in the world at the moment. Phelps has won sixteen medals in Olympic history, with all but two of the medals being gold medals. He has set numerous world records and is still in position to do more at these 2012 Olympic games in London. Clary has yet to win a gold medal and this is his first Olympics. I just think he should wait until after these Olympics before talking about his teammate and competition. As a competitor, he should not be giving Phelps any extra motivation to beat him any worse than he already will in London.
Just based on what Phelps has done, I cannot imagine that talent alone has got him to the top of his sport and gotten him so many accolades that it is hard to keep up with all he has done. I am sure that some days Phelps may not want to be at practice, but seriously for anyone who has played a sport when is this case. Phelps has been doing this for so long that I am sure he has more days now that he does not want to practice, but still shows up and puts in his work. He put in the work early in his career to get to where he is today and put himself in such an elite class that it has taken the rest of the world longer to catch up, but he is still winning.
After watching Phelps in the USA team trials, he still looks good to me and still has a better chance than most to continue to succeed in London. Tyler Clary needs to spend more time in the pool trying to get to Phelps' level instead of running his mouth about his teammate. Good luck to the Olympic team in London and to Phelps in what could be his last Olympic games.
Here is the article if anyone wants to read it:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/07/training-partner-tyler-clary-calls-out-michael-phelps-/1?csp=34sports#.T_3Zb5GRMTA
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