Personal life

Adrian was born in Bremerton, Washington in 1988. He is the son of James and Cecilia Adrian; his mother Cecilia is Chinese and was born and raised in Hong Kong. Cecilia is a nurse for the Bremerton school district, and his father James is a retired nuclear engineer for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Adrian has an older sister, Donella, who swam at Arizona State University, and an older brother, Justin, who swam at the University of Washington. Adrian started swimming at the age of five because of the influence of his siblings. He was a 2006 graduate, swimming for Bremerton High School. Adrian matriculated at the University of California, Berkeley in fall 2006, where he majored in public health. He eventually graduated with honors in the spring of 2012. At Cal, Adrian is a five-time individual NCAA champion: Winning the 50-yard freestyle in 2009 and 2011 and the 100-yard freestyle in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Career

2008 Short Course World Championships

At the 2008 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 with Ryan Lochte, Bryan Lundquist and Doug Van Wie won gold in a world record time of 3:08.44. In his second event, the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian won gold in a time of 46.67, just ahead of Filippo Magnini who finished second with a time of 46.70. For his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian combined with Randall Bal, Mark Gangloff and Ryan Lochte, won silver behind Russia.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games

See also: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 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. He also placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Adrian swam the first leg in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, splitting a time of 48.82 seconds. Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Matt Grevers completed the relay with a final time of 3:12.23, a world record. This record was broken one day later when Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak swam a time of 3:08.24, beating France and Australia in the final. By swimming in the heats, Adrian earned a gold medal even though he didn't swim in the final.

Adrian was training under coach Mike Bottom in the Florida Keys as part of The Race Club swimming training program World Team leading up to the 2008 Olympics.

2009 World Championships

See also: Swimming at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2009 National Championships, Adrian placed first in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events, qualifying him to swim at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome.

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, Adrian earned gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the 4×100-meter medley relay. Adrian also placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle and tenth in the 100-meter freestyle. After Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Matt Grevers completed their legs in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, the United States had a slight deficit behind the Russian team. However, Adrian swam the anchor leg in 46.79 to overtake Danila Izotov for first place. The final time of 3:09.21 was a championship record. In the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian contributed in the heats (with Matt Grevers, Mark Gangloff and Tyler McGill) and earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final.

2010

At the 2010 National Championships, Adrian qualified to compete at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships by winning the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle titles. 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, the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian won the gold medal in 48.15, beating Canadian Brent Hayden and world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle César Cielo. The following day, Adrian lined up alongside Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Jason Lezak to anchor the 4×100-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. The following day, Adrian then competed in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-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. About an hour and a half later, Adrian competed in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Aaron 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.

2011

2011 World Championships

See also: Swimming at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships

Adrian won his first medal, a bronze, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak. Swimming the anchor leg, Adrian recorded a time of 47.40. In the final of the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian placed sixth with a time of 48.23, well off his semi-final time of 48.05. In the 50-meter freestyle final, Adrian placed fourth with a time of 21.93 seconds, just one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second ahead behind third-place finisher Alain Bernard. In his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian teamed with Mark Gangloff, Michael Phelps, and Nick Thoman to win gold in a time of 3:32.06. Swimming the freestyle leg, Adrian had a time of 47.64.

2011 National Championships

At the 2011 National Championships, Adrian defended his 50-meter freestyle title with a time of 21.84 seconds. His time moved him to fourth in the world behind César Cielo (21.52), Bruno Fratus (21.76), and Frédérick Bousquet (21.78). He chose to sit out of the 100-meter freestyle in order to prepare for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

2012 Summer Olympic Games

See also: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 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 of Cullen 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 the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Adrian won his first medal of the games, a silver, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones and Ryan 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 first time breaking 48 seconds.

On the fifth day of competition, Adrian won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle final, defeating favorite James Magnussen of Australia by one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second. In the race, Adrian set a new personal record with a time of 47.52. 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 since Matt Biondi did in 1988.

Adrian won a second gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition. He swam the anchor freestyle leg, with Matt Grevers swimming the backstroke leadoff leg, Brendan Hansen the breaststroke second leg, and Michael 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 was renamed "Nathan Adrian Drive" for Adrian's Olympic achievements.

2013 World Championships

See also: Swimming at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2013 U.S. National Championships, Adrian qualified to swim at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona by placing first in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle with times of 21.47 and 48.10, respectfully.

In his first event at the World Championships, Adrian combined with Ryan Lochte, Anthony Ervin, and Jimmy Feigen in the 4×100-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 the 100-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, the 50-meter freestyle, Adrian was just off the podium with a fourth-place finish, finishing with a time of 21.60.

2015 World Championships

See also: Swimming at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships

Personal bests

As of August 7, 2015.

Long Course Meters Event Time Meet Date Note(s) 50 m freestyle 21.37 2015 World Aquatics Championships August 7, 2015 AM 100 m freestyle 47.52 2012 Summer Olympics August 4, 2012

Short Course Yards Event Time Meet Date Note(s) 50 y freestyle 18.66 2011 NCAA Championships March 24, 2011 Former AM 100 y freestyle 41.08 2009 NCAA Championships March 28, 2009 Former AM

Trivia

Adrian appeared in episode 5 of the 2009 season of the Discovery Channel series, MythBusters, to assist hosts Adam Savage and Jamie 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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]