Matt Grevers Wins ESPN Peloton Show Over NBA Player Gordon Hayward

Matt Grevers participating in ESPN's Peloton Competition. Photo Courtesy: ESPN

Even with no swim meets going on, Matt Grevers was still competing – and winning. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 100 backstroke participated in ESPN’s Peloton Show on Saturday against other professional athletes including basketball player Gordon Hayward and golfer Rory McIlroy. Grevers won the men’s competition after leading for the majority of the race ahead of Hayward and football analyst Booger McFarland.

Another gold for the shelf ? pic.twitter.com/H1cZJHL1bp

— Peloton (@onepeloton) May 30, 2020

Grevers, who called himself “the only racer in the field” beforehand held on to a comfortable lead throughout, as the show donated over 1,000,000 meals to New York City’s Food Bank, the largest hunger relief organization in the city. All sixteen bikers exceeded the target goal of 3,000 points with 4,312 points.

“I was trying to listen to Alex (Toussaint) and the cues but I think Bubba’s (Watson) breathing too hard for me to hear anything so I just kind of went,” Matt Grevers said on air after winning. “Swimming, you have a pretty decent aerobic background. When I heard about this, I wanted in. I don’t have anything to race for, I can’t get in the water so this became my race and I got pretty serious. I had some private instruction from Jack Newhouse so that was great. I had some friends boosting me up so this was great to get the win for everyone! Especially the swimmers!”

Gordon Hayward: “I couldn’t believe this dude was still 20 ahead of me. I was giving it all I had. It seemed like he was still pushing himself in front of me. You didn’t ask me beforehand who I thought was going to win, but I for sure thought the Olympic swimmer was going to have a huge advantage over all of us. He is a beast!”

Matt Grevers. Photo Courtesy: ESPN

Matt Grevers, 35, is currently training for what would be his third Olympic Games in Tokyo, after he won an individual silver medal in Beijing 2008 in the 100 backstroke and a gold in London 2012. He was third at the Olympic Trials in 2016 in the 100 back, but has since bounced back by making the World Championships teams in 2017 and 2019. He has clearly stayed active, by winning today’s Peloton competition, and has stayed active on land.

“I’m basically coaching myself. We have a little pool where I hook a stretch cord to the ladder and try to keep a feel for the water. I’ve been doing a lot of abs, Peloton and also pull-ups on my daughter’s swing set,” Grevers said. “It was a letdown to have a lot of that work I did (before the shutdown) go down the drain, but I’m in a good situation. As professionals, we condition ourselves to think about the solution and not the problem. The top performers are the ones who can forget very easily about the issues and focus on what you can control.”

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