Watch CBS News

Former Wolverine Gears Up For The Racetrack After Olympic Swimming Career

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WWJ) -- Olympic Gold medalist and former Michigan Wolverine Tyler Clary is training for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but he's also training to do something else in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"I want to be a professional race car driver," Clary said. "My goal is to make a living driving race cars and I'm currently pursuing getting into some of the higher series in NASCAR. Right now we've just begun the development phase of making those goals happen."

Clary said that he isn't worried about injuring himself and anything we do normally can be dangerous.

"I think that anything we do normally can be dangerous," Clary said. "I could trip and fall down the stairs, I could get into a car accident going to practice. If something's going to happen to me, it's going to happen to me and I would rather be doing something that I know will help advance me personally, and from a career standpoint."

Clary said that his swimming coach, David Marsh, has been very supportive of his pursuit of racing on the side. Clary recently won the gold in the Men's 200 Backstroke at the Bulldog Grand Slam in Athens, Georgia.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.