It was supposed to be an easy summer for Northwestern junior swimmer Matt Grevers.
Fresh off an NCAA Championship in the 100-yard backstroke, he was planning to take summer classes while training at NU.
But after coming in third in the 100-meter backstroke and finishing seven-tenths of a second behind Olympian Ian Crocker in the 100-meter freestyle at the World Championship Trials, his plans changed.
Because of his success in the trials, Matt Grevers qualified to race in the 100-meter free style, 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter backstroke, 4 by 100-meter freestyle relay and 4 by 100-meter medley relay at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey.
“My original plans for the summer were to take it a little more easy,” Matt Grevers said. “I took some summer classes so I could shift my focus to school, and then swimming. But since I made the Games, I had other people relying on me. I couldn’t just swim for myself, I had to swim for them too.”
Matt Grevers medaled in four of his five events, capturing two silver and two bronze medals.
But he was not pleased with his effort.
“If anything, I swam bad and that pissed me off,” Matt Grevers said. “I was seeded first, and I was getting second, which is very frustrating because no one likes the second-place guy. It’s all about first.”
The competition wasn’t exactly set up for Matt Grevers to succeed.
Anja Grevers, Matt Grevers’ mother who attended the World University Games with Matt Grevers’ father, said although the Turkish people made them feel welcome and the family enjoyed the history and culture of where they were staying, the living situation wasn’t the best.
“They were not prepared for tall people,” Anja Grevers said. “His bed ended half way up his calf. They had to put an end table at the foot of the bed to fit him.”
She also said the warning lines, which are placed directly above the pool to warn backstrokers of the impending wall, were low, and her son sometimes touched them while swimming.
Another issue was the travel time. Although the World University Games were in Izmir, Turkey, the pool was 65 miles away from the central location of the games, where Matt Grevers stayed.
NU coach Bob Groseth said the experience Matt Grevers achieved at the World University Games will help him in the future, especially because it was his first international competition while in college.
“He had to travel over an hour to get to the pool each day, and I don’t think they had air conditioning where they were staying,” Groseth said. “There were a lot of things he had to adjust to, and when you get into an international competition you run into those things. The sooner you learn the lesson, the better.”
Matt Grevers’ NU teammate Mike Alexandrov also attended the World University Games, but swam for his native Bulgaria. Alexandrov experienced international competitions before, as he swam in the 2004 Olympics and has qualified for the World Championships, both for Bulgaria
He said the World University Games were a little different than the other international events.
“It was college-age people so it was more up-beat,” Alexandrov said. “In the Olympics you’re just focusing on doing the best, and nobody’s really focusing on having fun. In the (World University) Games it’s just more fun, and everyone’s just excited. And that’s what made it more competitive.”
Like the Olympics, the World University Games featured a village where all the athletes lived during the event.
Matt Grevers said one of the best things about attending the World University Games was the interaction with other athletes, and learning about them and their sports. But it was not always easy meeting other people.
“You have people speaking different languages, doing different cheers that you don’t understand and are annoying,” Matt Grevers said. “But it’s still fun going to the village and sitting next to someone, and you have no idea what they’re talking about. They could be talking about you, making fun of you, and you just go, ‘Oh, hey!’ and give a nice little wave.”
Matt Grevers and Alexandrov couldn’t see each other much while at the village – the U.S. forbade its athletes enter the rooms of international athletes – they still interacted at the actual meets.
“At the meet, people knew that we were teammates,” Matt Grevers said. “I was there cheering for him probably even more than our breaststrokers from the U.S. that swim for Indiana and Purdue. Both those guys are big competitors against Mike during the year, so I’m like, ‘Yeah Mike, kick their asses.'”
Both said swimming for their national team was different than competing for NU because you have more of a sense of pride when swimming for your school.
Matt Grevers said although he wanted to do well for the U.S., it wasn’t quite as hard to move on after what he felt was a disappointing performance.
“In the (World University) Games, yes you’re representing the U.S.A., but you come from your team, then you show up for a week to swim with these guys you don’t know that well,” he said. “You go home after it’s done and say, ‘Well I swam well,’ or ‘I swam poorly,’ but you’re still going home to your real team.”
Even though Matt Grevers didn’t have the relaxed summer he was wanted, the World University Games made it worth it to him because a of the experience he gained. He said not only did participating in the World University Games make him understand what it takes to swim internationally, training for, and competing in them will help him this season at NU.
“A lot of coaches there, I don’t know if you would say were blowing smoke up my ass, but they were saying, ‘Hey, you could be really good if you train hard,'” Matt Grevers said. “So between what people have told me, and not wanting to lose, I think the (World University) Games set me up pretty well for the season.”
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
