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 was one of the crowd standing by lane 8 during Gary Hall Jr's 50 fly swim, and it was one of the coolest swims I've ever watched. He had the whole crowd on its feet, and this was the same crowd that was collectively taking a nap about 15 minutes later. (I'm not judging, I did the same. You can only be fascinated by the 200 free so many times...) From my angle, it looked like he already had a good body length lead by the time he surfaced off the start, and he was hardly in a slow heat. The power he gets out of a single stroke -- it's downright astounding to watch in person.
Like a few others here, I met him briefly later on, and he was the same down to earth guy that everyone keeps describing. Nothing like his crazy Olympic persona, though I've always suspected that was an act. Was nice to verify that in person though! I should also add that every time I walked by him at the meet, he was smiling or laughing. I think the expression I would use to describe him is "in his element." He was just one of the guys, only a little taller and faster.
I was one of the crowd standing by lane 8 during Gary Hall Jr's 50 fly swim, and it was one of the coolest swims I've ever watched. He had the whole crowd on its feet, and this was the same crowd that was collectively taking a nap about 15 minutes later. (I'm not judging, I did the same. You can only be fascinated by the 200 free so many times...) From my angle, it looked like he already had a good body length lead by the time he surfaced off the start, and he was hardly in a slow heat. The power he gets out of a single stroke -- it's downright astounding to watch in person.
Like a few others here, I met him briefly later on, and he was the same down to earth guy that everyone keeps describing. Nothing like his crazy Olympic persona, though I've always suspected that was an act. Was nice to verify that in person though! I should also add that every time I walked by him at the meet, he was smiling or laughing. I think the expression I would use to describe him is "in his element." He was just one of the guys, only a little taller and faster.
