Matt Grevers, a Communication ‘07 alumnus who won the silver medal in the swimming 100-meter backstroke in the Beijing Olympics, will lead this year’s Homecoming Parade on Oct. 17 and 18, the university announced Monday.
Along with the individual silver, Grevers grabbed relay gold this summer in Beijing when he swam in the preliminary heats of the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and 4 x 100-meter medley relay. Grevers qualified for his first Olympics by finishing second in the 100-meter backstroke, behind world-record holder Aaron Peirsol, at Olympic Trials.
Grevers became Northwestern’s first national champion in men’s swimming since 1958 in the 100-meter backstroke as a sophomore. He won the Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 2007. In all, he won a school-record 27 career citations.
He has said that he chose Northwestern based solely upon academics, not taking swimming potential into consideration.
Be the first to know what’s going on around campus: Join our breaking news listserv, and we’ll e-mail you as soon as top stories go up on the site.