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Includes excerpts from an August 23, 2012 article by Alicia Robinson in the Press Enterprise.
Tyler Clary, who raced to a gold medal in the pool at the London Olympics, will be sharing his success with local swimmers and supporters on Sept. 8 at the Riverside Aquatics Center.
In his first Olympics, Tyler Clary won gold and set the Olympic record for the men’s 200-meter backstroke with his time of 1 minute, 53.41 seconds.
At their September 4th meeting, the Riverside City Council will declare September 8th “Tyler Clary Day” and launch a celebration of his victory, culminating in an event on Saturday hosted by the City of Riverside and Riverside Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The two-hour community-event will be held at the Riverside Aquatics Complex, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, beginning at 10 a.m. and is open to everyone. The Poly High marching band will lead guests into the complex, where cheerleaders will be lined up along the pool deck. Clary will meet with swimmers of all levels from Inland Empire swim clubs. There will also be a formal presentation by Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge and members of the Riverside City Council.
American flags will be handed out, children from local swimming and diving teams will get a chance to ask Clary questions, and video of Clary’s winning race will be shown during the two-hour event. Clary also will have a few moments to speak, and residents will be able to meet him and get photos, said Debbi Guthrie who heads the bureau’s sports commission.
Tyler Clary’s Olympic success reflects the high-caliber of athletes in Riverside. He adds his name to the list of Poly High School Olympic medalist alongside: Cheryl Miller, a member of the U.S. women’s basketball team that won gold in 1984; her brother Reggie Miller, a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team that captured gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta; and Cynthia “Sippy” Woodhead, who attended Riverside Poly as a freshman and sophomore, and won silver in the women’s 200-meter freestyle at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
The swimming community and Riverside as a whole could not be more proud of our hometown hero Tyler Clary and there is no better place to celebrate a world-class athlete than at the state-of-the-art Riverside Aquatics Center, the home of the Riverside Aquatics Association. It will be a homecoming for Clary, who swam for the Riverside Aquatic Association as a youngster.
