Nathan Adrian

Growing up in the state of Washington, Nathan Adrian began swimming at a young age, mostly because he had a pair of older siblings who loved the sport. His love for swimming carried him through his youth and on to the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a five-time NCAA champion in the 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard freestyle across 2009 to 2011.

Aside from his collegiate accolades, he competed on the international stage, winning his first medal at the age of 19 in the Short Course World Championships in 2008. He qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and while he didn't swim in the final that won America the gold medal for the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, he ran in the preliminaries so he received a medal after the USA victory.

Over the next few years, Adrian performed admirably in both freestyle and medley relays, earning seven gold medals from 2009 to 2011 in the World Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships. He once again qualified for the Olympics in 2012, where he wound up winning three medals, including a gold for the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

Coming home a decorated champion, Adrian continued to compete, adding more medals to his credit, including three more gold medals: one in the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships and two in the 2015 World Championships in Kazan.