Ryan Lochte to Serve as Grand Marshall of Daytona 500 Qualifier

Braden Keith
by Braden Keith 0

February 23rd, 2012 National

Ryan Lochte grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended the local Spruce Creek High School before going on to be twice named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year.

And even with that, he has trouble breaking through as the most talked-about athlete in his hometown. That’s because he’s from NASCAR country.

Now, Lochte will get the chance to play a major role in his town’s biggest sporting event: the upcoming Daytona 500, aslo known as “the Great American Race”. Lochte Thursday served as the Grand Marshall of the first of two precursor races (known as the Gatorade Duel at Daytona 150’s) that will serve as the qualifiers for the big-race that is to take place on Sunday.

This is a huge step into the mainstream for Lochte, as the races at Daytona are getting plenty of airtime on all of the major sports networks. This shows what a partnership with a major multi-sport sponsor like Gatorade can do for the exposure of swimming.

Among his duties as the Grand Marshall, Lochte gets to give the “Drivers, start your engines” command.

The Grand Marshall’s for the main race on Sunday will be Jane Lynch, star of Fox’s Glee, and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton.

 

In This Story

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »