Jordan Wilimovsky made headlines in July as the first male athlete to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Hailing from Malibu, Wilimovsky, a gifted swimmer, qualified for the games after coming in fifth place in the men’s 10-kilometer swim at the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, with a time of 1:48:01.
According to Team USA, “Wilimovsky needed a top-10 finish at the world championships to automatically qualify for Tokyo.”
This will be the second Olympic opportunity for the Malibuite. He previously competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he came in fourth place in the 1,500 meter event.
This year, Wilimovsky will be joined by his teammates Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell. The three represent Team USA’s “open water contingent” in Tokyo, per Team USA.
An American man has yet to win a medal for open water swimming at the Olympics, something Wilimovsky is ready to change, according to the Team USA website.