{"id":441108,"date":"2020-07-24T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=441108"},"modified":"2020-07-30T12:41:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T19:41:44","slug":"call-me-maybe-video-still-captures-team-usas-bond-in-2012-kathleen-herseys-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/call-me-maybe-video-still-captures-team-usas-bond-in-2012-kathleen-herseys-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Call Me Maybe’ Video Still Captures Team USA’s Bond in 2012, Kathleen Hersey’s Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics supposed to have opened, Swimming World takes a look back at the “Call Me Maybe” video that dazzled ahead of the 2012 London Games.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I just met you \u2026 and this is crazy \u2026 but here\u2019s my number, so call me maybe\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCall Me Maybe<\/strong>\u201d by Carly Rae Jepsen<\/strong> is still a popular song, but for the swimming community, the song will always be tied to a video released by USA swimmers on the eve of the 2012 London Olympics that went viral.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Hersey<\/strong> had seen other groups parody the song with a video and thought it would be fun for Team USA to try. Nearly everyone on the team participated in this fun, light, lip sync video of the song during training camp. But no one expected it to take off like it did.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours of being posted on YouTube by USA Swimming, the video had more than 1 million views<\/a> and was the talk of the Olympic Village in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was so incredible,\u201d Kathleen Hersey<\/strong> told Swimming World<\/em>. \u201cRussell Mark<\/strong> and I had this conversation after we showed the team the video the night before Opening Ceremonies. The room was beyond impressed with what Russell did with it, and we knew it was going to be a thing. But overnight, it got a million hits. There was a buzz about it in the Olympic village. We were hearing from the gymnastics team and the Australian swim team about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of that stemming from taking a chance on something fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI initiated it, but Missy Franklin<\/strong> and I talked about it. Justin Bieber<\/strong> was fresh on the scene and Carly Rae Jepsen<\/strong> came out with this song and Justin and Selena made this video that was really goofy. She and I had seen the video and we thought it would be fun to do for our team. It would give everyone a peek into training camp and the team. It got legs from there,\u201d Hersey said. \u201cWe got part way through filming clips of it, then it happened really fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got the groups together and once you have a couple people buy in, it took a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

It started on the plane with Ariana Kukors<\/strong> and Michael Phelps<\/strong> setting the beat before the lyrics opened with a choreographed moment with Caitlin Leverenz, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer<\/strong> and Andrew Gemmell<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A montage of fun moments involving Elizabeth Beisel, Cullen Jones, Jimmy Feigan, Anthony Ervin, Matt Grevers, Allison Schmitt, Alyssa Anderson<\/strong> and Jason Lezak<\/strong> follow, as well as Brendan Hansen<\/strong>\u2019s underwater dancing, Eric Shanteau<\/strong> doing the sprinkler down a water slide and a kiss from Ryan Lochte<\/strong>.<\/p>\n