Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitiveswimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held theAmerican record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event.[2]
In his Olympic debut at the2008 Summer Olympics, Adrian swam in the heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and earned a gold medal when the United States team won in the final. At the2012 Summer Olympics, Adrian won gold medals in both the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. He has won thirty-two medals in major international competitions; twenty gold, seven silver, and five bronze in such competitions as theSummer Olympics, theFINA World Aquatics Championships, and thePan Pacific Swimming Championships. In the2016 Summer Olympics 4x100-meter freestyle relay a gold was won withMichael Phelps,Caeleb Dressel, andRyan Held. He was an individual bronze medalist in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyles.
Adrian attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley in fall 2006, where he majored in public health and competed in swimming under Head CoachDave Durden. He graduated with honors in the spring of 2012.[8] Adrian was a five-time individualNCAA champion, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 2009 and 2011 and the 100-yard freestyle in 2009, 2010, and 2011.[9][10][11][12]
At the2008 Short Course World Championships, Adrian won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle relay and silver in the 4×100-meter medley relay. In the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Adrian combined withRyan Lochte,Bryan Lundquist and Doug Van Wie won gold in aworld record time of 3:08.44.[13] In his second event, the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian won gold in a time of 46.67, just ahead ofFilippo Magnini who finished second with a time of 46.70.[14] For his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian combined withRandall Bal,Mark Gangloff and Ryan Lochte, won silver behind Russia.[15]
At the2008 United States Olympic Trials, Adrian placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle, qualifying him to swim in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the Olympics.[16] He also placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle.[17]
At the 2009 National Championships, Adrian placed first in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events, qualifying him to swim at the2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome.[21][22]
At the2010 National Championships, Adrian qualified to compete at the2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships by winning the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle titles.[27][28] His win in the 100-meter freestyle also guaranteed him a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relay teams.
At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Adrian won a total of four gold medals, the best performance of his career. In his first event, the100-meter freestyle, Adrian won the gold medal in 48.15, beating CanadianBrent Hayden and world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyleCésar Cielo.[29] The following day, Adrian lined up alongsideMichael Phelps,Ryan Lochte andJason Lezak to anchor the4×100-meter freestyle relay. With no competition, Adrian recorded a time of 47.51 and the U.S. team won the gold in a time of 3:11.74.[30] The following day, Adrian then competed in the50-meter freestyle and the4×100-meter medley relay. In the final of the 50-meter freestyle, Adrian shocked favorite Cielo, winning in a time of 21.55 seconds; Cielo finished second in 21.57.[31] About an hour and a half later, Adrian competed in the 4×100-meter medley relay withAaron Peirsol,Mark Gangloff and Michael Phelps. Swimming the freestyle leg, Adrian recorded a time of 47.54, the fastest in the field and the U.S. team won the gold in a time of 3:32.48.[32]
At the 2011 National Championships, Adrian defended his 50-meter freestyle title with a time of 21.84 seconds.[34] His time moved him to fourth in the world behindCésar Cielo (21.52),Bruno Fratus (21.76), andFrédérick Bousquet (21.78).[35] He chose to sit out of the 100-meter freestyle in order to prepare for the2012 Summer Olympics.
At the2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Adrian made the U.S. Olympic team for the second time by finishing first in his first event, the 100-meter freestyle. In the final of the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian posted a time of 48.10 seconds to finish ahead ofCullen Jones, who had a time of 48.46. He also placed third for the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.68, just missing a spot in that event.
At the2012 Summer Olympics in London, Adrian won his inaugural Olympiad medal, a silver, in the4×100-meter freestyle relay withMichael Phelps,Cullen Jones andRyan Lochte, with the team finishing behind France. Swimming the lead-off leg, Adrian recorded a split of 47.89 seconds, and the team finished with a final time of 3:10.38. Adrian's lead-off time was the fastest first leg in the field, and Adrian's inaugural time breaking 48 seconds.
On the fifth day of competition, Adrian won the gold medal in the100-meter freestyle final, defeating favoriteJames Magnussen of Australia by one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second.[36] In the race, Adrian set a new personal record with a time of 47.52.[37] Going into the 100-meter freestyle final, Adrian was seeded second with a time of 47.97, which was only the second time he ever broke 48 seconds in the event. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian became the first American male to win the event sinceMatt Biondi did in 1988.[38]
Adrian won a second gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the4×100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition. He swam the anchor freestyle leg, withMatt Grevers swimming the backstroke leadoff leg,Brendan Hansen the breaststroke second leg, andMichael Phelps the butterfly third leg. The Americans recorded a time of 3:29:35, with the Japanese team taking the silver medal and the Australians receiving the bronze. In the race, Adrian had a split of 46.85, the fastest in the field.
In August 2012, a street in Adrian's hometown,Bremerton, Washington, was renamed "Nathan Adrian Drive" for Adrian's Olympic achievements.[39]
At the 2013 U.S. National Championships, Adrian qualified to swim at the2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona by placing first in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle with times of 21.47 and 48.10, respectively.
In his first event at the World Championships, Adrian combined withRyan Lochte,Anthony Ervin, andJimmy Feigen in the4×100-meter freestyle relay, with the team finishing behind France. Swimming the lead-off leg, Adrian recorded a split of 47.95 seconds, and the team finished with a final time of 3:11.42. Adrian's lead-off time was the fastest first leg in the field.
Adrian advanced to the100-meter freestyle final as the top seed by posting 47.95 in the semi-finals. In the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian won bronze in a time of 47.84, only two-hundredths of a second behind second-place finisher Jimmy Feigen. In his second individual event, the50-meter freestyle, Adrian was just off the podium with a fourth-place finish, finishing with a time of 21.60.
At the 2015 World Championships, Adrian swam in two relays and two individual events. In the4x100 freestyle relay, the US team failed to advance to the final in the heats, so Adrian could not swim the finals of the relay. In his first individual event, the100-meter freestyle, Adrian tied for seventh in the final, finishing in 48.31. Nonetheless, Adrian bounced back to break a six-year oldAmerican record in the 50-meter freestyle in 21.37 seconds in the semifinals. In the final, Adrian won a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle, touching second behindFlorent Manadou in 21.52. On the same night, Adrian was also part of the winning4x100-meter mixed freestyle relay along withRyan Lochte,Simone Manuel, andMissy Franklin. They broke theworld record with a time of 3:23.05.[40] Adrian won another gold medal in the4x100-meter medley relay withRyan Murphy,Kevin Cordes, andTom Shields. He anchored in 47.41 to touch the wall at 3:29.93.[41]
At the2016 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Rio Olympics, Adrian qualified for his third Olympiad by winning both the 50- and 100-meter freestyle. He finished half a second ahead of the field in the 100-meter freestyle in 47.72.[42] In the 50-meter freestyle, Adrian redeemed his third-place finish from the 2012 Trials by finishing first in 21.51, one hundredth of a second ahead of second-place finisherAnthony Ervin.[43]
InRio de Janeiro, Adrian won a total of four medals. He won his first medal as the anchor for the4×100-meter freestyle relay alongsideCaeleb Dressel,Michael Phelps, andRyan Held. The Americans, with Dressel and Held as first-time Olympic competitors, finished with a time of 3:09.92, followed by France and Australia. Adrian's final leg was 46.97 seconds, the fastest of the field.[44][45] In his first individual event, the100-meter freestyle, Adrian touched third behindKyle Chalmers andPieter Timmers in 47.85 seconds. Adrian won another bronze medal in the50-meter freestyle, finishing in 21.49 seconds. Another American,Anthony Ervin, won in 21.40 seconds and the defending Olympic championFlorent Manadou took second. He capped off his Olympics with another gold medal in the4x100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition, swimming alongsideRyan Murphy,Cody Miller, andMichael Phelps. He anchored the relay with a 46.74 split to bring home the gold in 3:27.95, a new Olympic record.[46]
At the2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships during August 2018 inTokyo, Japan, Adrian won a gold medal as part of the USA men's relay in the 4x100-meter medley relay event swimming a 47.71 on the freestyle leg of the relay.[47]
After fighting off testicular cancer and not being able to swim or lift weights over 15 pounds for some time, Adrian was back to swimming at the2019 World Aquatics Championships in July 2019 inGwangju,South Korea.[48] He won a gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay, swimming a 47.08 as the anchoring leg of the USA's relay.[49]
Adrian competed at the2019 Pan American Games inLima,Peru in August 2019.[50] As part of his efforts at the games, Adrian won silver in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay, gold in the mixed 4x100-meter freestyle relay, silver in the men's 100-meter freestyle, silver in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and gold in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay.[51]
Adrian entered to swim two individual events at the2020 US Olympic Trials (postponed to June 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic), the 100-meter freestyle and 50-meter freestyle.[52]
On the fourth day of the Olympic Trials, Adrian competed in the prelims of the 100-meter freestyle, ranking 6th of all heats and advancing to the semifinals with a time of 48.37.[53][54] In the semifinals, Adrian swam a 48.92 coming in 13th for both semifinals and not qualifying for the final.[55][56][57]
In the morning prelims of the 50-meter freestyle on day seven of competition, Adrian ranked third with his swim of 21.85 and qualified for the semifinals.[58][59] During the semifinals Adrian lowered his time to a 21.78 and ranked third across both heats. This swim advanced him to the event final the following day.[60][61] Adrian finished third in the final on day eight, not qualifying to swim the50 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics with his time of 21.73.[62][63]
Adrian had hoped to culminate his overcoming testicular cancer journey by competing in his fourthOlympic Games.[64] His swims at the 2020 US Olympic Trials confirmed that his fourth Olympic Games would not be the2020 Summer Olympics inTokyo.[64][65] While he did not make the 2020 US Olympic Team, Adrian's swims earned him a spot on the 2021–2022 US National Team, marking the 14th time he had achieved a spot on the team.[66][67]
In May 2017, Adrian became engaged to merchandising director Hallie Ivester after six years of dating.[71] They were married on September 15, 2018, in Rutherford, California[72] and welcomed a daughter on February 9, 2021.[73] In January 2019, Adrian announced on Instagram that he was diagnosed withtesticular cancer, for which he underwent surgery.[74]
Nathan Adrian Drive road sign in Bremerton, Washington
Adrian appeared in episode 5 of the2009 season of theDiscovery Channel series,MythBusters, to assist hostsAdam Savage andJamie Hyneman in testing the myth that it is possible to swim as fast in syrup as in water. His test results however, were declared invalid by Savage and Hyneman, because they determined that Adrian was so used to swimming in water, that his technique was completely disrupted when swimming in the syrup. This disruption caused his lap times when swimming in syrup to vary wildly in comparison with his extremely consistent lap times in water.
