NCAA Update - Florida Senior Champs - PR Failure

My prediction yesterday that Tyler Clary's time in the 200IM would be faster than Bradley Ally's was way wrong. Tyler swam a 1:43.23, which was good enough for a win and a new Big 10 record, but not better than Ally's time of 1:41.96. It will be an interesting race between those two at the NCAA's.

The Florida Senior Spring Championships started in Orlando today. I will update with Ryan's results once I can figure out where to find them.

Finally, Ryan's fabulous new PR firm PMK failed him last week. Ryan attended a store opening in NYC that was sponsored by a group called "Save Venice." While at the opening, a reporter asked Ryan to talk about his personal relationship with Venice. Ryan was caught off guard, and the following report was published.


I know nothing about public relations, but it seems like the goal is to protect your client and always make him look good. If you take your famous client to an event sponsored by a cause, and you know the press will be there, it seems logical to learn something about it in advance and supply your client with a short answer to give in case anyone asks.

The publicist could have told Ryan that Venice, being largely under water, experiences frequent flooding that endangers the priceless art located there. The goal of "Save Venice" is to prevent the art from being damaged by flooding. That's all he needed to know. His answer could have been: "I've never been to Venice, but I've heard a little about what 'Save Venice' is doing to prevent art from being destroyed by flooding. I'm actually here for Fashion Week, but this sounds like a good cause so I'm happy to be here to support it."

Ugh. It was a douche move to publish the article just to make Ryan look bad, but he's famous now and I guess that's what happens to famous people. Hopefully PMK will make sure this doesn't happen again.

Ryan's Other Profession - Modeling/Fashion

Here are photos of Ryan attending Fashion Week in New York, appearing at various fashion shows. Ryan recently signed with Ford Models, a presigious modeling firm, and has expressed interest in designing his own clothing line.





I think Ryan's interest in fashion is great for his swimming. He has said if his whole life involved only swimming he would go insane. It's awesome that he's found other interests to keep his life full, particularly interests that do not involve physical risk such as riding a skateboard or a motorcycle.

Although Ryan's taste in clothing is sometimes questionable (see purple shirt above), he's certainly creative and willing to take risks. He exhibits the same traits in swimming, rarely adhering to a safe strategy and always going full out for the win.

Like any job, training for swimming, even when you are as talented as Ryan, has to be boring and tedious on some level. Everyone needs to have other interests. I'm glad Ryan has chosen to work in fashion. He looks great and it gives him an interesting outlet for his creativity.