Jordan Wilimovsky joined the Palisades YMCA swim team when he was nine years old after he missed the qualification cutoff for junior lifeguards. Twelve years later, he finished the 10-kilometer swim at the 2015 FINA Open Water World Championships as the first swimmer to qualify for the United States Olympic Team — and the third athlete of any sport.
Wilimovsky switched to Team Santa Monica (TSM) shortly after the start of his swimming career, where he trained full-time until he began college. He also competed with the Malibu High School (MHS) swim team during his freshman and sophomore years, where he led the team as one of its only year-round club swimmers.
“[The MHS team] was a close-knit group of guys,” he said. “Everyone knows each other every time you walk on deck.”
Dave Kelsheimer became TSM’s head coach when Wilimovsky was 16 and helped take the young distance swimmer to the next level.
“I only practiced five times a week [before Kelsheimer began], but when he took over, he doubled our yardage and our practice requirement,” Wilimovsky said.
Kelsheimer also encouraged Wilimovsky to pursue open water competitions. He swam his first open water race at Open Water Nationals in 2012 — an event he was able to qualify for using his times from long-distance events in the pool. He said that, although he did not emerge with a high finish, he liked his first open water race and chose to stick with it.
“In open water, there’s no time component,” he said. “You’re just racing everyone else and drafting off a leader. You have to make sure you’re in a good position because most races come down to just a second.”
Wilimovsky headed to the midwest in 2012 to swim for Northwestern University, where he saw substantial improvements in his times each year. He specialized in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events in the pool and continued open water swimming.
“The Olympics were always something I’d thought about, but nothing I’d ever thought about too seriously,” he said. “As my results improved, it became more of a goal than a dream. Every year it got more real.”
That Olympic dream became a reality at the 2015 FINA Open Water World Championships in Kazan, Russia, last August. Wilimovsky and his teammate, Sean Ryan, had qualified for Worlds by placing first and second at U.S. Nationals. All they had to do was finish within the top 10 at Worlds to secure a spot on the Olympic team.
Wilimovsky said he was confident that he had a good shot at making the team, but that there were more competitors — around 70 in total — and many more high-caliber athletes at Worlds than any open water competition he had previously swam in.
“I stuck to what I normally do,” he said. “The pack sticks together in the beginning. I was 50th or 60th at the halfway mark and then got it back. Coming around the last turn, I found myself in the lead and it pushed me through the end.
“I was super excited when I finished,” he added. “I could see all the USA guys cheering in the stands and I saw my name first [on the scoreboard]. All my friends at home stayed up to watch the race, and they were calling me.”
Ryan finished fourth, also earning him a spot on the Olympic team along with Wilimovsky and female teammate Hayley Anderson, who qualified a day later in the women’s event. The trio are the swimmers who have qualified for the U.S. team thus far, with Olympic Trials in the pool events coming up from June 26 to July 3 in Omaha, Neb. Wilimovsky will travel to Omaha as well in hopes of qualifying for the team in a second event — the 1500-yard freestyle.
With August’s games fast approaching, Wilimovsky is taking a redshirt year off of swimming at Northwestern and is currently training with Kelsheimer at TSM full-time. Though he spends much of his time training in the pool, he also enjoys taking to the ocean for a surf or playing a round of golf in his free time.
As advice to future Olympic hopefuls, Wilimovsky stressed the importance of sticking to your training.
“You’re not going to randomly get faster, so you have to try and improve.”