Olympic Swimmer Matt Grevers Brings Home Gold

Last week 27 year old Matt Grevers set an Olympic record in the 100 Meter Backstroke Event and took home the Gold for that event as well at the 100 Meter Relay with his teammates. This week he stopped by the SiriusXM studios to talk with Ron Bennington about the experience in London. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattGrevers.  Excerpts from the interview appear below.

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Ron Bennington: You hit it so hard in that race, and did you know it? Did you feel it before it started? Because you had a look about you that was pumped.

Matt Grevers: I was pumped and I felt very confident. Just how prelims, the semifinals went. I felt I was racing fast and I just felt good.

Ron Bennington: But that was all coming together at that point for you. There were nerves before this started.

Matt Grevers: Of course.

Ron Bennington: But the thing about you is…a lot of the guys look like they play it chill. I felt like you came out looking like it was a football game. Looking like you were going to be aggressive with this.

Matt Grevers: Yeah. I’m not trying to put on a fake smile to act like I’m at ease. It’s a serious event and you spend four years preparing for pretty much one or two races and you want that race to go well. So you gotta get your game face on.

Ron Bennington: Do you know where everybody else is in a race?

Matt Grevers: I do. Backstroke is pretty nice that way. Where you can kind of take a little peek left and right and see where you’re at. And to do that you have to be a little out in front which is where I like to be.

Ron Bennington: You like to get out in front, know who is coming after you, and then the 100 meters is so fast. It’s such a fast fast race. So if you don’t get that big start, you’re in trouble.

Matt Grevers: It’s a sprint. Yeah. I did try to keep it a little calm and reserve some energy especially in my legs, that first fifty. And then coming off the wall that second fifty I really started pumping the legs. And I think that’s something a little unique to my swim strategy, where I think a lot of people freak out and they want to get out ahead. But I was a little comfortable with some people being at least with me or a tiny bit ahead cause I knew my second fifty would be real fast too.

Ron Bennington: So you’re thinking about them and their moves while you’re swimming.

Matt Grevers: Well there’s some strategy involved for sure. A couple of swimmers– I didn’t know how good they felt. So prelims, the semi-finals, you could be bagging it. You could be playing poker in that respect. So I didn’t know, especially with the French swimmer, he has been a 52 low in the 100 back stroke and I knew that’s what I was going to go, around 52 low and I thought, he’s the only one capable of doing that speed. So I definitely kept my eye on him and I wasn’t sure exactly how fast he could go.

Ron Bennington: See I think that’s what the rest of us can’t pick up, is the mental game. The psychological game and the fact that this is a chess match, as well as, you don’t want to hit the end of that and have any energy left. You want to use up everything that you have, but not use it all up when you have ten meters left to go.

Matt Grevers: Well it’s easy to get excited. You’re in the Olympic final. It’s so easy to get excited and sprint your first fifty when really you can go almost the same speed in what swimmers call “easy speed.” It’s almost the same speed with very little effort. Just – the body feels good, your muscles are fresh and you go pretty fast with minimal effort. But if you feel like you have to strain yourself, you’re going maybe a tenth or two faster, but expending 30% more effort or more energy. So it’s a lot of strategy.

Ron Bennington: So you know everything– you know how many strokes you need to do– nothing changes in between that swim and the way you train, right?

Matt Grevers: There’s little differences. I don’t know exactly how many strokes. I kind of go– I’m a power swimmer. I try to have big long powerful strokes. But sometimes, if I need to update my tempo– if I get real tired, I’m losing some water– being technical– If I lose some water, I’ve got to probably up my tempo a bit. So I go on feel. I’m a big feel guy. I don’t have a set number. Breast strokers are really set– they’re like– well I’m going to go sixteen strokes out and eighteen strokes back. Where I– I don’t count my strokes I go on feel.

Ron Bennington: You were so emotional after that race, when it hit. And you were happy to see your buddy in the next lane. There was such a feeling of accomplishment.

Matt Grevers: Yeah, unfortunately, I was a tiny bit selfish and I just saw the one next to my name and I started celebrating, and it felt like ten seconds, but it was probably two, three seconds later, Nick Thoman my USA teammate came over, slapped me, and I looked up and saw a two and I was like YEAH!!!!! So I got to re-live that excitement.

Ron Bennington: So…Rio is the idea there?

Matt Grevers: Yeah, it’s a plan.

Ron Bennington: So this is a constant now. Even though the Olympics is done, the training can’t fall off. Or are you going to take a little bit of time for yourself?

Matt Grevers: Right. I’m going to take a little bit of time, but still stay fit. I did an almost four mile run yesterday and I didn’t have a weight room so I just did some push ups and sit ups. I just like feeling strong so I’m not going to get out of shape. But I’m going to stay out of the water for about four weeks.

Ron Bennington: You’re so tall. And that span that you have– guys didn’t used to look like you when they swam. What made you, as a young guy think this was the sport for you.

Matt Grevers: My mom’s a swim coach, my brother and sister are swim coaches– it’s just in our blood and we love swimming. I really like that weightlessness. Flying was my dream as a kid– I always wanted to fly. And swimming can be flying. You hold your breath for a long time and just have that weightlessness feeling– you can do flips. Whatever you want. I really enjoyed it and I just like being in the water. It’s a very clean an energetic experience for me.

Ron Bennington: What is the difference in the experience when you’re part of the relay race. All this time it’s all about you, training yourself, you’re responsible for yourself, and now there’s these other guys.

Matt Grevers: It’s really awesome especially when one of those guys is Michael Phelps. Someone I’ve looked up to for a long time and he’s done so much for the sport. I was very honored to be a part of that relay, and extra motivated. And to stand on that podium with those three other guys— Brendan Hansen, Nathan Adrian and Michael Phelps was just such a great experience and one that I will never forget. I mean it was real enjoyable to be up there for myself and make eye contact with my fiancé and my family. But, it was a special experience to know I was up there for Michael Phelps’ final gold medal at the Olympics. It’s something I’ll be telling my grandkids.

Ron Bennington: If you’re not in the zone, how do you get yourself back into it?

Matt Grevers: That’s never a problem for me. I think I have a very good mental game– I just love swimming.

Ron Bennington: You get sleep the night before though?

Matt Grevers: With the help of Ambien I could sleep (laughs)

Ron Bennington: Really? Don’t you worry about having Ambien in your system the next day too?

Matt Grevers: No, I pop it pretty early, and make sure I have a good ten hours before I really need to wake up. And we get our body going, we get our blood flow going pretty early with warm up. And so we flush it all out of our system so I’m not too worried about it. Yeah, without it, I think I’d be real excited. Right before the final race, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of thoughts going through your head.

Ron Bennington: Out of your whole program, the only one I’m going to adopt is Ambien. Congratulations so much man. It was a phenomenal Olympics and I’m really happy for you and it was great to see your family react like that too. Congratulations and best of luck to you.

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You can hear this interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio.  Not yet a subscriber?  Click here for a free trial subscription.

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You can learn more about Ron Bennington’s two interview shows, Unmasked and Ron Bennington Interviews at RonBenningtonInterviews.com.