Nathan Adrian, a 2006 Bremerton High School grad, helped the University of California men’s swimming team to a second-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio, March 27-28.
The Bremerton native swam seven events, winning the 100-yard freestyle and swimming legs on three winning relays, the 200 free, 400 free and 400 medley. He also placed second in the individual 50 free and 13th in the 100 butterfly.
Adrian took some time Thursday to catch up with the Bremerton Patriot.
Here’s what he had to say:
Q: What did it mean to you to win the events you did?
A: The feeling was great. It is never fun losing an event that you won the year before (50 free), but the fact that my team was doing well more than made up for that.
Q: How about the team? Gauge its performance.
A:The team did amazing. I was happy with the finish. Of course, any team would have loved to win the competition. However, we still out-performed most of the other teams there in the water and that’s something we can take a lot of confidence from going into next year.
Q: How has your swimming progressed over the past year? What have you been working on?
A: My swimming has progressed with a few stroke changes and a lot of strength gains. We do a lot of work in the weight room and that has transitioned well to the pool.
Q: What has been the highlight for you this year?
A: It’s hard to choose just one highlight because there have been several. Making my first international competition, in which I swam individual events, was great. Swimming at the world championships was amazing. Third was this NCAA competition in which we came out to surprise the NCAA community by almost winning.
Q: How is school going?
A: School is going fine. I am just finishing up a lot of the prerequisites for my public health major. Classes are fine, I am happy to be back in a routine without any interruptions. I will probably graduate in a year-and-a-half or two years. It depends on how much summer school I do. After graduation I will probably try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics and after that, who knows?
Q: What’s next with swimming?
A: Right now I am on a break outside of the pool and everything that surrounds competitive swimming. I might go in and play basketball for a bit or ultimate frisbee, but in terms of meets over the summer, I will be focused on making the Pan Pacific Championships that are going to be held in August.
Q: When were you last back home in Bremerton, and when do you plan on visiting again?
A: I was home in December and I have no idea when I will be back again. This summer is a very important summer in terms of qualifying for the national team, so I might not even make it back until next fall.
