So, I had the pleasure to hang out with him for quite a while today. I was asked to take a few publicity photos of him, for his dad, Gary Hall Sr. and Rowdy Gaines.
I was very pleasantly surprised, Jr. is a very nice and very personable guy. I thought perhaps he'd have a hot shot attitude... Not even close.
As I was asking him to make couple poses for the camera, for the publicity, he and he did... and we chuckled about them, he made a comment something to the effect of, about I dunno why people take some of that so negatively, and think I'm a total jerk :(
He seemed pretty genuinely bummed out.
I was thinking how he is always being asked to pose and do publicity things, and do some showing off or what not, then it turns around and ends up giving him a bad rep.
Later on introduced him to a massage therapist friend of mine who works on a lot of pro athletes, to work on him and they can compare notes, and Gary's first response was, oh, that would be so nice but, aren't there people here that need it a lot more then I do, they'll say, what does he need *that for*.... he was all embarrassed, and rather humble about it.
He's the kind of a guy that wouldn't squish a bug! I mean literally.
As we were sitting and chatting, a June bug landed, he reached for it, and I reacted, oh, no, don't hurt it!
Before he had a chance to respond, I realized that he proceeded to check it out and started petting it with one finger, saying hi little guy...
Parents
Former Member
I am glad people are getting to see Gary for who he is and not how the media likes to define who he is. I have the opportunity to swim with his father when he makes the AM workout, and they are class people.
We all know there have been many discussions on here about Gary, and Lord knows sometimes he does things that make us all shake our heads. He does a lot for the sport of swimming, but so much more for those people stricken with Diabetes.
I still wonder why he doesn't get the atttention he deserves while being stricken with such a difficult illness. We seem to love the stories of someone overcoming major obstacles to become a champion (i.e. Lance Armstrong), Gary seems not to get similar recognition.
Please understand, I am not comparing him to Lance, I just think so much more could be learned about Diabetes and how you can overcome so much with the righht treatment and good habits.
Hopefully USMS Swimmer will feature Gary soon, this is his first individual world record, and I hope it doesn't go unnoticed.
I am glad people are getting to see Gary for who he is and not how the media likes to define who he is. I have the opportunity to swim with his father when he makes the AM workout, and they are class people.
We all know there have been many discussions on here about Gary, and Lord knows sometimes he does things that make us all shake our heads. He does a lot for the sport of swimming, but so much more for those people stricken with Diabetes.
I still wonder why he doesn't get the atttention he deserves while being stricken with such a difficult illness. We seem to love the stories of someone overcoming major obstacles to become a champion (i.e. Lance Armstrong), Gary seems not to get similar recognition.
Please understand, I am not comparing him to Lance, I just think so much more could be learned about Diabetes and how you can overcome so much with the righht treatment and good habits.
Hopefully USMS Swimmer will feature Gary soon, this is his first individual world record, and I hope it doesn't go unnoticed.
