U.S. Olympic Trials: Veteran Leader Nathan Adrian Staring at Last Chance For Tokyo Bid

U.S. Olympic Trials: Veteran Leader Nathan Adrian Staring at Last Chance For Tokyo Bid

The chance for Nathan Adrian to become a four-time Olympian will come down to 21 seconds and a single length of the pool at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The 32-year-old veteran enters the final of the 50-meter freestyle at the United States Olympic Trials as the third seed, berths to the Olympic Games in Tokyo handed to the top-two finishers in the event.

Earlier in the week, Adrian was eliminated from the 100 freestyle in the semifinals, leaving the one-lap sprint as his last opportunity to add to the Olympic-team spots he earned in 2008, 2012 and 2016. Adrian was the Olympic champion in the 100 freestyle at the 2012 Games in London and earned bronze in that event four years later. He has also been a stalwart in relay action, establishing himself as one of the most-reliable anchors in history.

Adrian has been a multi-time captain for Team USA in international competition and qualification for Tokyo would not just mean the chance to pursue another medal on the world stage but would give the U.S. the ultimate veteran presence among the team members. Adrian could provide advice to the team’s younger swimmers and would undoubtedly lead by example during training and team activities.

Two-time defending world champion Caeleb Dressel is the top seed in the final, following a performance of 21.51 in the semifinals. Dressel was 21.29 in the preliminaries. Meanwhile, Michael Andrew is seeded second at 21.55, with Adrian following off his 21.78 from the semifinals.

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