Lake Forest's Grever Makes Surprise Marriage Proposal From Medal Stand

"I’ve just been searching for a unique way to pop the question," Matt Grevers says.

His plan was to win a medal and then propose.

U.S. Olympian Matt Grevers, 26, originally from Lake Forest, won the 100-meter backstroke Saturday at the Missouri Grand Prix, and pulled off a surprise proposal to his girlfriend and teammate, Annie Chandler, on the medal stand.

Almost immediately after Chandler, 24, placed the gold medal around Grevers’ neck, he got down on one knee and placed a diamond ring on her finger.

“I’ve just been searching for a unique way to pop the question,” Grevers told The Washington Post. “My whole family is here and I figured this would be a perfect opportunity and a unique situation.”

Grevers’ older brother Andy, an assistant swimming and diving coach at the University of Missouri, helped him execute his plan by sneaking him the ring.

Grevers originally planned a poolside proposal on Friday, following Chandler’s breaststroke competition. But he postponed the surprise after she came in fifth place.

“She didn’t have the best swim. So I was like ‘I got to go do it’,”Grevers told ESPN.

Grevers’ plan was contingent upon him landing one of the top three places in the race.

Back in 2008, he won two Olypmic gold medals as a preliminary relay swimmer and a silver in the 100 backstroke.

After the engagement, Chandler had to set her excitement aside to swim in the ‘C’ bracket of the 200 breaststroke.

Chandler is preparing to make her first Olympics appearance this summer in London.

Check out video of the proposal below:
 

 

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