The U.S. Swim Team Knows How to Have Fun

The Olympics can be stressful, but at least one U.S. team had some fun as they prepared for the Games. Few other teams have shown as much personality – or had as much fun – as the men’s and women’s swim teams.

On their way to London, the entire swim team, both men and women, created a lip-synching video to “Call Me Maybe,” the hit Carly Rae Jepsen song that has spawned many parody videos. The team sang and danced on airplanes, on buses, in cars, at autograph signings, and in the pool. One male swimmer even did a robot-style dance underwater. The video was a major team-building exercise: “I think it shows how close we are as a team and that we love what we’re doing and we’re having a blast with it,” said Missy Franklin. You can check out the video here. The fun lip-synch video has gone viral, showing that the public is having as much fun with the video as the team did.

The team is clearly close. Nathan Adrian’s Twitter feed (@nathangadrian) is fun to read, especially as he ribs his roommate and relay teammate Matt Grevers for being messy. Grevers rewarded Adrian for his gold medal win in the 100m freestyle by making his bed, then tweeting a photo of the results (featuring an official Athletes’ Village Olympic-themed comforter) to his feed, @MattGrevers.

Ryan Lochte had some fun with oral fashion after winning gold. He was asked not to wear his grill on the podium, but Lochte rocked a diamond-encrusted American flag grill for photos after the medal ceremony. Rapper Paul Wall and jeweler-to-the-stars Johnny Dang (a.k.a. TV Johnny) created the mouthful of stars and stripes. It is reported to cost about $25,000. Yes, you could buy a car, or you could buy a flag mouthpiece. The New York Times points out the it is one of the few fashion moments of the Games, since everyone is in uniforms.

In addition, Lochte raised some eyebrows when his mother told the media that her son “goes out on one-night stands. He’s not able to give fully to a relationship because he’s always on the go.” Lochte soon went into damage-control mode and explained that his mother isn’t used to interviews and she misspoke. “She meant that I go on a lot of dates. She didn’t mean anything negative. She’s new to the whole media thing,” he told E! He claims that he has never had a one-night stand, though reports from other Olympians suggest that the Athletes’ Village is full of hard bodies hooking up. He says that now that the Games are over, he’s thinking more about settling down.

With all of the pressure Olympic athletes are facing, it makes sense that they would want to release some steam. Of all of the teams we’ve seen covered, it looks like the U.S. swim team had the most fun even before they won any medals.