Matt Grevers

Matt Grevers

Grevers in 2009
Personal information
Full name Matthew Grevers
Nickname(s) "Matt," "Dutch," "The Gentle Giant"
National team  United States
Born (1985-03-26) March 26, 1985
Lake Forest, Illinois
Height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Weight 229 lb (104 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Backstroke, freestyle, butterfly
Club Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics
College team Northwestern University

Matthew Grevers (born March 26, 1985) is an American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, fourteen gold, twelve silver, and seven bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, and the Universiade. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grevers won gold medals as a member of the U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays, and a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Four years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won a gold in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle.

Swimming career

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Grevers won two gold medals by swimming in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay (swimming the backstroke leg) as the Americans went on to win the finals in those events and medals are awarded to participants at any step along the way. Grevers also won an individual silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke in a time of 53.11-second, 0.57 of a second behind the winner, world record holder Aaron Peirsol.[1][2][3]

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, Grevers was part of U.S. men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay team who took the gold ahead of Russia and France.[4] Grevers also earned a gold in the 4×100-meter medley relay for his contributions in the heats.[5][6]

2012 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Grevers qualified for the U.S. Olympic team by finishing first in the 100-meter backstroke and third in the 100-meter freestyle. In the final of the 100-meter backstroke, Grevers won in a time of 52.08 seconds, the second-best effort of all time and just behind Aaron Peirsol's world record of 51.94.[7] Grevers recorded the fastest time in a textile suit in the 100-meter backstroke. In the 100-meter freestyle, Grevers placed third with a time of 48.55, which ensured him a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[8] Grevers also competed in the 50-meter freestyle, and placed sixth in the final with a time of 22.09.[9]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Grevers won a total of three medals: two golds and one silver. Grevers earned his first medal, a silver, by swimming for the second-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the final, the American team finished second behind France. Teaming with Jimmy Feigen, Ricky Berens, and Jason Lezak in the heats, Grevers swam the second leg and recorded a time of 47.59. After leading the heats (52.92) and semi-finals (52.66) of the 100-meter backstroke, Grevers won gold in the final of the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 52.16, bettering Aaron Peirsol's Olympic record of 52.54 set in 2008 and 0.76 s ahead of Nick Thoman. For Grevers, it was his first individual gold medal.[10] In his final event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Grevers won gold with Brendan Hansen, Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian. Swimming the backstroke leg, Grevers recorded a time of 52.58 seconds, and the U.S. team went on to win with a time of 3:29.35.

2013 World Championships

At the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Grevers achieved a total of two medals: a gold and a silver. On the first night of swimming, Grevers missed the top-eight championship roster in the 50-meter butterfly, as he finished his semi-final run with a twelfth-place time in 23.35.[11] The following day, Grevers threw down the event's fastest time of 52.93 to claim the gold medal in the 100 m backstroke, finishing ahead of his teammate David Plummer by nearly two-tenths of a second.[12][13] On the final night of the meet, Grevers swam his last two finals with only 45 minutes in between. First, he posted a matching time of 24.54 to share the silver medal with France's Jérémy Stravius in the 50 m backstroke.[14][15] Nearly an hour later, Grevers teamed up with Kevin Cordes, Ryan Lochte, and Nathan Adrian for the final in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. During the race, Grevers swam the backstroke leg and touched the wall with a split of 53.02 until his teammate Cordes left the block 0.04 seconds early on the breaststroke leg, smashing the medal chances entirely for the Americans with a disastrous disqualification.[16][17]

Personal life

Grevers was born in Lake Forest, Illinois.[18] He graduated from Lake Forest High School, and then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and swam for the Northwestern Wildcats swimming and diving team.

Both of Grevers' parents are from the Netherlands. Grevers considered representing the Netherlands and even spoke about it with Dutch swimming legend Pieter van den Hoogenband. Ultimately, he decided to represent the United States.[19]

Grevers proposed to his wife, Annie Chandler, at the Missouri Grand Prix[20] on Saturday February 11, 2012. The couple were married on April 6, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay – Heat 1
  2. ↑ Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay – Heat 2
  3. ↑ Recap of 100m backstroke final
  4. ↑ KAREN CROUSE (July 27, 2009). "Records Fall, and It's Only Day 1". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  5. ↑ ANDREW DAMPF (August 2, 2009). "Phelps to get shot at 5th gold in Rome". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Four world records set on final day of World Swimming Championships". August 3, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  7. ↑ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Men's 100-metre backstroke (final)". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Men's 100-metre freestyle (final)". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ "2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (swimming) – Men's 50-metre freestyle (final)". Omega Timing. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Grevers delivers gold". Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Brazil Sizzles With 1–2 in Men's 50 Fly Semis". Swimming World Magazine. July 28, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Big Day for American Swimmers". New York Times. July 30, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  13. ↑ "USA USA USA: Matt Grevers, David Plummer 1–2 in 100 Back Finale". Swimming World Magazine. July 30, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  14. ↑ Canning, Kieran (August 4, 2013). "Record sixth gold for Franklin, Sun completes treble". Fox News. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Camille Lacourt Clinches 50 Back World Title". Swimming World Magazine. August 4, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  16. ↑ Chase, Chris (August 5, 2013). "When 0.01 seconds is the difference between gold and disqualification". USA Today. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Stunning USA DQ Delivers Gold to France in Men's 400 Medley Relay". Swimming World Magazine. August 4, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  18. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Matt Grevers. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  19. ↑ NBC Olympics Matt Grevers profile
  20. ↑ Missouri Grand Prix
  21. ↑

External links

Records
Preceded by
Sergey Fesikov, Vladimir Morozov, Rozaliya Nasretdinova, Veronika Popova		 Mixed 4 × 50 metres freestyle relay world record-holder
6 December 2014 – present
With: Josh Schneider, Madison Kennedy, Abbey Weitzeil		 Succeeded by
Incumbents
Preceded by
Nick Thoman		 Men's 100-meter backstroke
world record-holder (short course)
December 12, 2015 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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