Tyler Clary came into the London 2012 Olympics talking a big game by insulting fellow American and Michigan product Michael Phelps by claiming he wasn't working hard, but he's done well to back it up. He fell short in the 200m butterfly, placing fifth in the finals, but on Thursday was able to capture his first gold medal.
Clary came from behind to best Ryan Lochte in the 200m backstroke finals on Thursday, taking home the gold medal. Clary had the fastest qualifying time prior to the race, and he beat that time and set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:53.41. Lochte actually took bronze, as he also fell behind Ryosuke Irie, who grabbed silver.
Irie's time was 1:53.78, just 0.37 seconds slower than Clary, while Lochte fell behind by 0.53 seconds with a time of 1:53.94. Radoslaw Kawecki and Fenglin Zhang tied for fourth place behind them but wouldn't have received a medal regardless.
Clary is a University of Michigan product and won three NCAA Championships while attending the school.
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