LONDON — Matt Grevers was on the top step of the podium, a gold medal hanging around his neck. He is a big man, standing even taller than his usual 6 feet, 8 inches. He was a big man who did not want to cry when the National Anthem was played, for him.
Grevers put his right hand over his heart. He exhaled so forcefully it seemed audible, even over the noise celebrating his 100-meter backstroke victory at the Aquatics Centre.
“I was just thinking about all the sacrifices I’ve made, and my family has made, and it was all so worth it to be up there and experience what I have wanted for so long,” Grevers said. “It was a big sigh of relief.”
Grevers didn’t want to make that sound too dramatic. They were the kind of sacrifices athletes make, waking up and going to bed early, passing up parties, giving up the sugary sodas Grevers craved in favor of water.
All that for 52.16 seconds, the Olympic record time with which the 27-year-old from Lake Forest and Northwestern won Monday’s race, with U.S. teammate Nick Thoman second in 52.92 and Japan’s Irie Ryosuke third in 52.97. All that for the gold medal he happily pulled out to show off two hours after the race, a medal hanging on a purple ribbon, a medal cushioned in a box with plush purple inside the lid.
Royal purple. Wildcat purple.
“I was thinking about that,” he said.
The sigh expressed other thoughts. The relief of having gotten through an up-and-down four years since a surprise silver medal in the 100 back at the 2008 Olympics. Relief he could calm himself before the 2012 final. Relief that he had seized a chance that opened when nonpareil U.S. backstroker Aaron Peirsol, the 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion in the event, retired in 2009.
“I’ll be very honest,” Grevers said. “I was very nervous before this race.
“It is really hard not to go all out from the beginning. You want to save some energy, but you’re so excited to be there you don’t want to leave anything to chance, you don’t want to be behind.”
He came from an eyelash behind reigning world champion Camille Lacourt of France after 50 meters to take such command in the second lap that Grevers could see people trailing. At that point, Grevers could slow his stroke a bit, maintain control and concentrate on getting to the wall.
Then he saw the result and began looking for his family, whom someone had upgraded to better, lower seats. His mother Anja and father Edwin and brother Andy and sister Carolyn were all there, the ones waving the signs saying with “MATT.” So was his fiancee, swimmer Annie Chandler, whom Grevers had proposed to publicly after an awards ceremony at a meet in February, dropping to his knee and pulling a ring from warm-up pants in a moment that had become a YouTube sensation.
“It was empowering for me to see them there with me on the sidelines,” he said of his family. “It was awesome that I got to celebrate with them at the end. That was not for me, it was for the whole family.”
He recalled how hard it was leaving his mother behind five years ago, after she helped him move to a training base in Tucson. Then he did cry, so strong was Grevers’ bond to his family, three of whom — all but his landscape architect dad — are swimming coaches.
Grevers moved in the hope of making the 2008 Olympics in the freestyle relay. He began working with coach Rick DeMont, a renowned former distance freestyler.
“Then something magic happened, and I got back my backstroke,” Grevers said.
Grevers did make the 2008 Beijing Olympics in both the freestyle relay and the backstroke, leaving with three medals — an individual silver and two relay golds.
But the backstroke came and went until this year. At June’s Olympic trials, Grevers put up a stunning time, 52.08 — second fastest to Peirsol’s world record, 51.94 — and suddenly became the Olympic favorite in the event.
“You have to approach swimming with different mindsets,” he said. “I don’t understand the sport, and anyone who says they really do may be lying. I love experimenting to find what is going to make me better.”
Strength training. Anaerobic endurance training. A healthier diet — not just dumping soda, but eating yogurt (“Chobani,” Grevers said, plugging his sponsor) as a snack instead of junk food.
It turned him into a backstroker who controlled all three of his 100-meter races here, with the fastest time in both the heats and semifinals. It allowed him to shave .38 seconds from Peirsol’s Olympic record in the final.
The only thing Grevers did not do was break Peirsol’s world record. It became a goal after the performance at the trials.
“I’ve got one more shot,” he said. “I’ve got that medley relay (Saturday).”
He talked about how he had taken over the event from Peirsol, and how he expected Thoman would be next. But Grevers intends to keep going after this Olympics, looking to add more medals to the five already in his trophy case.
He was embarrassed at not having given Thoman props immediately when the race ended.
“I must be selfish,” he said. “It took me a good 10 seconds to realize he got second and that’s something I should do right away. When I noticed it (on the scoreboard), the moment became that much more special.”
There was another minor awkward moment when he left the awards stand. Grevers threw the flowers he had been given as part of the medal ceremony toward his fiancee, but the bouquet went long.
His mother caught the flowers and gave them to Chandler.
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