In his first-ever Olympic swim, Malibu native and Team Santa Monica swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky achieved his own personal record of 14:48.23 this morning in Rio, becoming the third-fastest US Olympian of all time in that event, bested only by Larsen Jensen in 2004 and 2008 and by his current Rio teammate Connor Jaeger’s qualifying swim this morning, putting the two Americans second and third going into Saturday’s Finals. Wilimovsky’s time in this, his first Olympics, surpasses his swimming idol Grant Hackett’s 2000 Olympic Gold Medal winning time from Hackett’s first Olympic outing.
A West L.A. native, Jordan Wilimovsky took a year off from school before his senior year of college to train with his longtime coach, US Olympic Team Asst. Coach Dave Kelsheimer at Team Santa Monica, where Jordan has developed from a novice to a 2015 World Champion and now Rio Olympian.
Jordan competes in the finals of the 1500m Saturday night live on NBC in pursuit of an Olympic medal. He then readies himself for Tuesday’s 10k Open Water event in Rio, an event in which he owns last year’s World Championship title.
