Four-time Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Grevers grew up in Lake Forest, Ill., and swam at Northwestern University just outside Chicago.
He was joined in the Class of 2022 by Cubs Hall of Famer Lee Smith, Bears Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, coach Sean Payton, Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios, Bears players Willie Gault and Dan Neal, WNBA Champion Courtney VanderSloot, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, USA track coach Nat Page, Cubs executive Crane Kenney with special award winners Marcus Allen, Joe Thomas, Keena Turner and Toni Ginnetti.
Matt Grevers made the U.S. Olympic team in 2008 and 2012. He won a total of five medals — four gold and one silver. In London, he won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke, the same event he took silver in during the Beijing games.
He also won gold on the 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays in 2008 and the 4×100 medley in 2012.
Matt Grevers just missed making the 2016 games but qualified for the 2017 world championships and has continued his stellar career through the 2020 Olympic trials.
“I think I found my place in 2017. I truly enjoyed it. It wasn’t the nerves, which I had success with, but it was different. It was so awesome. Swimming could have been this the whole time? It could have been this fun and this rewarding without the pressure? It is such a different mindset,” Matt Grevers told Swimming World before the 2020 Trials. … Especially when you add in being a parent.
“The out look of being a parent is putting everything into perspective,” Matt Grevers said. “Swimming is everything, then when you have kids and are forced outside of the swimming bubble and it makes the bubble a little smaller. You can’t let your mood affect your kids after a bad race or bad practice. You can put your energy into being a good parent even if things aren’t going well in the water. I am addicted to improvement, so improvement as a father is a win.”
It is that kind of focus that led Matt Grevers to a career that is being honored as a Chicagoland Hall of Famer.
Way T GOOOOO Matt!!!