At the 2016 United States Olympic trials, Matt Grevers clocked 52.76 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke and was devastated. A year later, Grevers clocked 52.71 at the United States world championships trials and was overjoyed.
To be a world-class swimmer in the United States is to teeter on an emotional, and often a financial, seesaw. In 2016, Grevers finished third at the United States trials, missing by one place a spot on what would have been his third Olympic team. Last month in Indianapolis, he finished first in a finals field that included the gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro, Ryan Murphy, to secure a berth, along with the runner-up, Murphy, in the world championships, which are underway in Budapest.