From Parker's Perspective

I was a wee little 8th grader when I first met Colt. To set the scene, it was Finals of Age Group Champs at Cleveland State and it was my first summer swimming USA, so I didn't know anyone. I sat in the warmup pool area, waiting to walk out to the blocks, with everyone around me talking and laughing like they've known each other for years when in walks this scrawny little kid with sunglasses on. I was instantly intrigued. Everyone wanted his attention the moment he walked through the door - including me. From that day on, my favorite meets became the ones Colton Phelps was at.

We became friends early on in high school but it wasn't until the summer of my junior year that we went on our first date. At the time, I was at a difficult point in my life so I was a bit weary going into this date but that day turned out to be one of the best days of my life.

Unfortunately, timing is everything, and with him leaving for college in a few days, we knew it wasn't meant to be yet. Over the course of the next two years, we FaceTimed often and always made sure to see each other during every break we had. No matter what we were going through in life, we were always there for each other. He brought this sense of weightlessness to my life and I tried to do the same for him.

When COVID hit, we ended up losing touch for about a year and a half. He was doing his thing and I was doing mine and that was okay. I missed him a ton but got so caught up in college and life that we just weren't able to make the time for each other like we used to.

One day, during the spring of my junior year at college, I texted him out of the blue telling him I was coming home for spring break and that I'd love to see him at some point. We ended up seeing each other the next day.

Sitting in Best Burger that day, it was like nothing had changed. Everything was just as easy as it used to be and I think we both needed that. We started checking in with each other every week, and then eventually every day. We started officially dating about two years ago now and haven't looked back since.