By Erin Keaveny, Swimming World College Intern
Members of the U.S. Men’s National Team are generally known for their outstanding skills in the pool, but there’s a lot about these guys that you can’t tell from their times. Here are seven things you might not know about the men’s national team members:
1. Josh Prenot is an aspiring grill master.
Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
Josh Prenot recently broke Ryan Lochte’s 400 IM record at the 2016 Men’s NCAA Championship, taking gold with a time of 2:35.82. What you might not know is that he loves to grill. On January 18, he tweeted out that he couldn’t make a trip to Texas without stocking up on barbecue sauce to make some “delicious brisket.” On May 1, he tweeted a scrumptious looking picture, and a comment on how he was getting pretty good at making brisket. Prenot’s advice– “Salt Lick rub and sauce is essential.”
2. Cullen Jones almost drowned.
Photo Courtesy: Kara Sekenski
Cullen Jones, now a decorated Olympian with two individual silver medals and two gold relay medals from the London and Beijing Olympics almost drowned when he was five. Inspired by his past, he now puts his status as an Olympian to good use, participating in campaigns with the goal of teaching over a million kids how to swim.
3. Eugene Godsoe is a musician.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Eugene Godsoe graduated from Stanford in 2010 and specializes in Backstroke and Butterfly. Not only is he an outstanding swimmer, but he he was a Scholastic All-American, and is a musician. He has been playing piano since he was six, and has released multiple remixes as DJ EEGO.
4. Nick isn’t the first Thoman family swimmer.
Photo Courtesy: David Farr
Nick Thoman is one fourth of the reigning Olympic gold medal 4×100 medley relay, and at the same Olympics he took home an individual silver in the 100m back. Nick isn’t the first great swimmer in his family– his grandfather Richard Thoman held the world record in the 100 back in 1952, and was part of a record holding 400 free relay team.
5. Giles Smith loves football.
Photo Courtesy: David Farr
Giles Smith, is freestyle and fly specialist who graduated University of Arizona in 2014. He was the 100m fly gold medalist at the 2015 Pan American Games, and is a huge fan of the NFL. Just check out is twitter; he’s retweeted countdowns down to the second anticipating the season opening kick off, and tweets in support of his favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts.
6. Conor Dwyer has a twin.
Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
Conor Dwyer specializes in freestyle and medley events. He is an Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion, and comes from a big family. He has a twin brother, Spencer, two younger brothers and a younger sister. In his national team bio he said, “I really enjoy being from a large family, and without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
7. Nathan Adrian was on Mythbusters.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Nathan Adrian has quite the trophy case. He’s a five-time individual NCAA champion, and has gold medals from the Beijing Games in the 4×100 freestyle relay, and the London Games in the 100m freestyle and 4×100 medley relay. In addition, he might have a future in television. The Olympian was featured on an episode of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters testing whether swimming in syrup or water is faster. Watch the clip here!
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