Nathan Adrian - Career - 2012 Summer Olympic Games

2012 Summer Olympic Games

At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Adrian made the U.S. Olympic team for the second time by finishing first in his first event, the 100-meter freestyle. In the final of the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian posted a time of 48.10 seconds to finish ahead of Cullen Jones, who had a time of 48.46. He also placed third for the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.68, just missing a spot in that event.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Adrian won his first medal, a silver, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones and Ryan Lochte, with the team finishing behind France. Swimming the lead-off leg, Adrian recorded a split of 47.89 seconds, and the team finished with a final time of 3:10.38. Adrian's lead-off time was the fastest first leg in the field, and Adrian's first time breaking 48 seconds.

On the fifth day of competition, Adrian won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle final, defeating favorite James Magnussen of Australia by one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second. In the race, Adrian set a new personal record with a time of 47.52. Going into the 100-meter freestyle final, Adrian was seeded second with a time of 47.97, which was only the second time he ever broke 48 seconds in the event. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, Adrian became the first American male to win the event since Matt Biondi did in 1988.

Adrian won a second gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4x100-meter medley relay on the final day of competition. He swam the anchor freestyle leg, with Matt Grevers swimming the backstroke leadoff leg, Brendan Hansen the breaststroke second leg, and Michael Phelps the butterfly third leg. The Americans recorded a time of 3:29:35, with the Japanese team taking the silver medal and the Australians receiving the bronze. In the race, Adrian had a split of 46.85, the fastest in the field.