Nathan Adrian

Nathan Adrian, nicknamed Bok Choy or Giraffe, is an American professional swimmer. He was born on December 7, 1988 in Bremerton, Washington.

Adrian attended the University of California, Berkeley where he placed 2nd in the 100-yard butterfly in the 2007 Pac-10 Championships and finished 8th in the 100-meter freestyle at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

Along with Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak, Adrian competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He helped win for the United States a Gold Medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

In 2009, Adrian made his World Championships long course debut by helping the United States win a Gold Medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. He also helped the team win another Gold Medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay.

Adrian was born and raised in Bremerton, Washington. He graduated from Bremerton High School in 2006. His mother, Cecilia Adrian is Chinese and was born and raised in Hong Kong. Cecilia is a nurse for the Bremerton school district and his father, James Adrian is a retired nuclear engineer for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Adrian has an older sister, Donella, who swam at Arizona State, and an older brother, Justin, who swam at Washington.

College Career

As a freshman, Adrian placed second in the 100-yard butterfly in the 2007 Pac-10 Championships and finished eighth in the 100 free at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Nathan Adrian sat out the 2007-08 collegiate season to train for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On March 26, 2009, Adrian set the American record in men's short course yards with a time of 18.71, despite him ripping his suit. A couple of days later on March 28, 2009, Adrian again broke an American record in men's short course yards. This time in the 100-yard free with a time of 41.08, breaking his American record of 41.43 set as a relay leadoff for Cal at the 2009 Pac 10 Championships.


2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games

By placing fourth at the 2008 United States Olympic Team Trials in the 100 meter freestyle he qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of the 4 X 100 freestyle relay. On August 10 in prelim heats of the 4x100m freestyle relay, he became a World Record holder, splitting the lead off leg of a time of 48.82. The other legs were swum by Cullen Jones, Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner and Matt Grevers in a final time of 3:12.23. Adrian later earned a gold medal when Jason Lezak swam down Alain Bernard in the final leg of the relay's final.


2009 World Championships

Adrian made his long course World Championships debut by anchoring the men's 4x100 m freestyle relay with a time of 46.79, helping the US to a gold medal. His fast final leg was reminiscent of the performance turned in by Jason Lezak in the same event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, overcoming a deficit to the French team who had been in the lead.


2009 Duel In the Pool

At the Duel In the Pool, held in a short course pool, Adrian swam the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay that broke the world record previously held by Canada. Adrian also swam the leadoff leg in the 400 free relay with a time of 45.08. Adrian, along with Matt Grevers, Garrett Weber-Gale, and Michael Phelps, completed the swim in 3:03.30 breaking the world record set by France in 2008.

Mythbusters Apperance

Adrian appeared on the May 6, 2009 episode of MythBusters, helping the hosts to determine whether it is possible to swim as fast in syrup as in water. Adrian's times in syrup were much slower and more inconsistent than his times in water. This was, however, chalked up not to any retardant effect of syrup, but rather, to syrup's effect on Adrian's technique.