Aug. 16, 2008

BEIJING, China -- The United States' victory in the 4x100-meter medley relay Sunday morning at the 2008 Olympics gave Michael Phelps his much ballyhooed eighth gold medal of the Games, but it also netted 2007 Northwestern graduate Matt Grevers his third overall medal as an Olympian.

Grevers swam on the preliminary squad for the U.S. on Saturday, helping his country qualify first overall for the finals with a time of 3:32.75. Grevers swam a 53.59 backstroke leg to lead off the relay comprised of himself, Mark Gangloff, Ian Crocker and Garrett Weber-Gale.

Those four were replaced in the finals by Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak, who combined to win in world-record fashion. Swimmers who compete in the prelims but not the finals also receive medals if that relay reaches the podium.

Grevers' gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay is his second gold medal of the games and his third overall medal. Grevers swam in the prelims for the first-place 4x100-meter freestyle relay and won silver in the 100-meter backstroke. He currently is tied with six other members of Team USA for the fourth-most medals won by an American at the 2008 Games.

Grevers, a four-time NCAA Champion while at NU, also set an Olympic and world record during his swims in Beijing, though both marks would later be broken.