Whatever happens in Annie Chandler’s swimming future, the former Arizona Wildcat will have a hard time matching what happened on the medal stand over the weekend.
Her boyfriend, Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers, who trains in Tucson and competes with the Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics swim club, won the 100-meter backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix on Saturday.
Event organizers, in on the proposal, had asked Chandler to help present the medals after the race … and, eventually, Grevers lured Chandler onto the medal stand. He dropped to one knee, took out the ring (which had been slipped to him by his brother) and popped the question.
Chandler said yes.
Chandler, 24, was an 18-time All-American at Arizona and swam on six NCAA champion relay teams for the Wildcats. She was a finalist for last year’s NCAA Woman of the Year Award. She graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a minor in art history.
She is training for a shot at the Olympics this summer.
Grever, 26, won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 helping Team USA in the relay preliminaries, and he also won silver in the 100-meter backstroke.