Matthew Grevers (born March 26, 1985) is a former American competitionswimmer who competed in thebackstroke andfreestyle 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 theUniversiade. At the2008 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 the2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Born on March 26, 1985 in Lake Forest, Illinois, to Ed and Anja Grevers, a swim coach,[2] he attendedLake Forest High School. One of the younger competitive swimmers in the family, older sister Carolyn swam for the University of Kansas, while older brother Andrew swam for Northern Illinois.[2] Recognized early for his potential at High School meets, he set a national backstroke record at ten. At Lake Forest, he set three Illinois state records and in his Senior year in 2003 made significant contributions to Lake Forest’s first Illinois State Team Championship. During his High School years, he competed and trained with Patriot Aquatics Swim Club at Illinois'sStevenson High School under accomplished coachLea Maurer, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist who served as an Assistant Coach at Northwestern, and would later coach at Stanford. Completed in 1996, the club featured one of the first and most modern natatoriums in the state.[3][4][5]
Beginning as a Freshman swimmer with Northwestern University in the fall of 2003, Grevers was a Big 10 Freshman of the Year, and became the first Northwestern Wildcat swimmer since 1958 to capture a national championship when he finished ahead ofRyan Lochte of Florida in the 100 backstroke at the 2005 NCAA championships. At Northwestern, he was a 27-time All American, and was trained and managed by Coach Bob Groseth.[2][4] He won three individual NCAA titles during his time at Northwestern, and captured a fourth NCAA national championship with Northwestern's 400 medley relay team in 2007.[6][3]
He repeated as the winner of the NCAA 100 backstroke title in 2006, then captured a first in the 200 backstroke, becoming only the third swimmer in the history of the NCAA history to swim under a time of 1:40 in the event.[6]
A 2006 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, he graduated Northwestern with three Big Ten Conference records, 11 Northwestern University records and 10 Norris Aquatics Center pool records.[6]
At the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Grevers won two gold medals by swimming in the preliminary heats of the4×100-meter freestyle relay and4×100-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 the100-meter backstroke in a time of 53.11-second, 0.57 of a second behind the winner, world record holderAaron Peirsol.[7][8][9]
At the2012 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 recorded the fastest time in a textile suit and won in a time of 52.08 seconds, then the second-best effort of all time and just behindAaron Peirsol'sworld record of 51.94.[13] 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.[14] Grevers also competed in the 50-meter freestyle, and placed sixth in the final with a time of 22.09.[15]
At the2012 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 the4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the final, the American team finished second behind France. Teaming withJimmy Feigen,Ricky Berens, andJason 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 the100-meter backstroke, Grevers won gold in the final of the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 52.16, betteringAaron Peirsol's Olympic record of 52.54 set in 2008 and 0.76 seconds ahead ofNick Thoman. For Grevers, it was his first individual gold medal.[16] In his final event, the4×100-meter medley relay, Grevers won gold withBrendan Hansen,Michael Phelps andNathan 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.
At the2013 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 finals roster in the50-meter butterfly, as he finished his semi-final run with a twelfth-place time in 23.35.[17] The following day, Grevers threw down the event's fastest time of 52.93 to claim the gold medal in the100 m backstroke, finishing ahead of his teammateDavid Plummer by nearly two-tenths of a second.[18][19] 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'sJérémy Stravius in the50 m backstroke.[20][21] Nearly an hour later, Grevers teamed up withKevin Cordes,Ryan Lochte, andNathan Adrian for the final in the4 × 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.[22][23]
He did not make the 2016 Olympics Team as he finished third in the 100m backstroke.
At the 2017 US National Championships, the qualifying meet for the2017 World Championships in swimming, Grevers won the 100-meter backstroke, ahead of the 2016 Olympic champion and 100-meter backstroke world record holder,Ryan Murphy, to qualify the World Championships later that year inBudapest.
At the2017 World Aquatics Championships inBudapest, Grevers placed second behind Xu Jiayu ofChina but ahead ofMurphy in the 100-meter backstroke. He also earned gold medals by swimming in the heats and finals of the US 4x100-meter medley and mixed medley relays, as well as a bronze medal in the non-Olympic 50-meter backstroke. The mixed medley relay had also set a World and Championship record time of 3:38.56 in the finals.
While at Northwestern, Grevers was a Big 10 Freshman of the Year, and a Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 2006.[6] He was inducted into the Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012,[6] and became a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in October, 2022.[24]
Both of Grevers's parents are from theNetherlands. Grevers considered representing the Netherlands and even spoke about it with Dutch swimming legendPieter van den Hoogenband. Ultimately, he decided to represent the United States.[26]
Grevers proposed to his wife,Annie Chandler, at the Missouri Grand Prix[27] on Saturday, February 11, 2012. The couple were married on April 6, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.[28]
Annie gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, Skylar Lea Grevers, on November 9, 2016.[29]
As of 2024, Annie Chandler Grevers and husband Matt were still living inTucson, Arizona with their three young children. Matt, who continued to train and attended the Olympic trials that year, was an Assistant volunteer coach at the University of Arizona, and worked for the DeMont Family Swim School, where he became a partner and co-owner in 2022 withRick DeMont. DeMont, who had coached Grevers at Tucson Ford Aquatics for a decade, had operated the school with his wife Carrie since 2009, and had coached at the University of Arizona from 1987-2017. Staying active in the sport, Grevers attended the U.S. Olympic trials for all seven Olympics from 2000-2024.[32][1]
