Matt Grevers is already well known for winning the silver medal in the 100 backstroke at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. But Grevers proved on Saturday that he's more than just a world class swimmer, he's also a hopeless romantic.
After stepping up his game to win the gold medal in the 100 backstroke event at Saturday's Missouri Grand Prix, Grevers decided it was also time to take his relationship to the next step.
While receiving his gold medal, Grevers invited his longtime girlfriend and USA national swimming teammate Annie Chandler to step up on the first-place stand with him. Grevers proceeded to get down on one knee and propose to a visibly shocked Chandler.
Grevers wanted to pull off the poolside proposal a day earlier, when Chandler swam in the final of her own 100 backstroke event, but her fifth-place finish drowned out his plan. An emotionally elated Grevers says he had wanted the proposal to come after Chandler's own victory, but that her loss made him go even harder for his own gold medal, so he didn't have to wait any longer to pop the question.
“She didn’t have the best swim. So I was like, ‘I got to go do it.’ ” Grevers told .
Chandler had to briefly set aside her celebration, though, as she was scheduled to swim in a heat for the 200 backstroke. The visibly excited Chandler admitted afterwards, she was barely even concerned with the race.
“That was one of the most thoughtless 200 breaststrokes I’ve ever swam,” she said.
Watch the video below for the entire poolside proposal.
