Bremerton’s Adrian looks for repeat in Rio
Published 10:00 am Tuesday, August 9, 2016
By SARA MILLER
smiller@soundpublishing.com
BREMERTON — In his Olympic debut in 2008 in Beijing, Nathan Adrian of Bremerton was on the gold medal-winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
In the 2012 Olympics in London, Adrian won gold medals in the 4×100 medley relay and the 100-meter relay, in which he beat out Australia’s James Magnussen by 1/100th of a second.
In Rio de Janeiro, he has his eyes on bringing home a few more medals.
“I’m not a guy who sets numerical goals,” Adrian said during an interview while at camp in San Antonio, Texas. “That’s not something that works for me really well.
“For me, it’s about executing the race that I’ve planned for the entire year. For example, right now I’m working on my dive into dolphin kicks and then maintaining momentum into my swim … that’s my micro-goal.”
Adrian will compete in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in the Rio Olympics, which begins Aug. 5.
Adrian didn’t qualify for the 50-meter freestyle four years ago, but during the 2016 trials he touched the wall in 21.51 seconds — 100th of a second ahead of Anthony Ervin — to qualify in first.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he said of competing on the world stage in the 50 and 100. His qualifying time in the 100-meter freestyle gave a little more breathing room, coming in at 47.72. His Olympic time in 2012 was 47.52.
Adrian was born on Dec. 7, 1988 in Bremerton to Jim and Cecilia Adrian. Adrian joined the Olympic Aquatic Club at a young age and swam for the Tacoma Swim Club before accepting a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.
At the 2015 world championships, Adrian broke the six-year standing American record for the 50-meter freestyle, previously held by Cullen Jones, by .03 seconds. He advanced to the final with a first-place qualifying time but ultimately lost to Florent Manaudou of France. He finished seventh in the 100-meter free.
Adrian also won a gold medal as the anchor leg of the 4×100-meter medley relay. He swam the second-fastest split in the meet behind Australia’s Cameron McEvoy.
To prepare for Rio, Adrian said he incorporated yoga and weightlifting into his routine.
He said he feels the team is prepared and ready to make the United States proud.
“We’re feeling good, we’re really excited,” he said. “I think there are a lot of sleepers out there who didn’t necessarily do as well as they needed to do last year in competition. They’re going to be ready to perform this year and be competitive at the world stage for some medals.”
The opening ceremonies will be broadcast on NBC. Swimming events begin on Aug. 6. Adrian’s first event, the 4×100 meter relay, will take place on Aug. 7, with the semifinals at 9 a.m. Pacific Time and the finals later that evening.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES AND BREMERTON: Sisters Dana Kirk and Tara Kirk attended Bremerton High School and Stanford University and competed in the 2004 Olympic games. They were the first sisters to be members of a U.S. Olympic swim team.
