Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian is an ace American freestyle swimmer. He was born on 7 December, 1988 in Bremerton, Washington. Adrian's father is a retired nuclear engineer, whereas his mother works as a nurse. He hails from a family of five, where both his older siblings used to swim for their respective universities.
Influenced by his siblings, Nathan Adrian began swimming at the age of five. He swam for his school team and was a five-time individual NCAA champion. The star swimmer won the NCAA 50-yard freestyle in 2009 and 2011 and the 100-yard freestyle in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Nathan Adrian's career highlights
In 2008, Nathan Adrian won a gold medal in the 100-meter and 4×100-meter freestyle relay and silver in the 4×100-meter medley relay at the Short Course World Championships.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, he won gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the 4×100-meter medley relay.
Nathan Adrian recorded his career-best performance by clinching four gold medals at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. He finished on top with 48.15 seconds of timing in the 100-meter freestyle. The next day, he teamed up with Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Jason Lezak and went on to clinch gold in a time of 3:11.74.
Adrian cliched gold in the 50 meter freestyle with 21.55 seconds of timing and later went on to bag gold with his team Aaron Peirsol, Mark Gangloff and Michael Phelps in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
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In the 2011 World Championships, Nathan Adrian won his first medal, a bronze, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak.
He won bronze at the 2013 World Championships in a time of 47.84, only two-hundredths of a second behind second-place finisher Jimmy Feigen. At the 2015 World Championships, Nathan Adrian won a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle, behind Florent Manadou in 21.52 and also won the 4x100-meter mixed freestyle relay. He also won another gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay with Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, and Tom Shields.
Nathan Adrian's overall Olympic achievements
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. Adrian clinched a gold medal even though he didn’t swim in the final.
He bagged his maiden Olympic medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. He won silver, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay alongside Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones and Ryan Lochte, with the team finishing behind France with a final time of 3:10.38.
Nathan Adrian also clinched gold in the 100-meter freestyle final with a new personal record with a time of 47.52 and went on to become the first American male to win the event since Matt Biondi in 1988.
In 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Adrian sealed a total of four medals. He won his first medal as the anchor for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay he 100-meter freestyle. Unfortunately, he finished third with a timing of 47.85 and failed to defend his Olympic title. Nathan Adrian won the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle, finishing in 21.49 seconds.
He capped off his Olympics with another gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition, in 3:27.95, a new Olympic record.
Post his fight with testicular cancer, Adrian could not swim or lift weights over 15 pounds for some time. He was back swimming at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships and bagged a gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
Adrian, winner of eight Olympic medals, including five golds at three Olympic Games, returned to the pool after undergoing treatment for testicular cancer in 2019.
Adrian failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic games after finishing third in the 50 meter freestyle on the final day of the trials with his time of 21.73. This will be the first time since the 2008 Beijing Olympics that Adrian is not a part of the U.S. Olympic team.
Nathan Adrian's Biography
Date of Birth: December 7, 1988 (age 32)
Birth Place: Bremerton, Washington, U.S.
Sport/Event(s): Swimming
Nathan Adrian's earnings
Veteran swimmer Nathan Adrian's net worth is $4 million, according to Celebs Money.com.