US Olympic Swimming Team 2012: Nathan Adrian Ready for Olympic Breakthrough

In the next wave of great American swimmers, Nathan Adrian is at the front for Team USA.

More known as a relay specialist since his college days, Adrian is beginning to develop as a more complete swimmer. From an article by Greg Echlin of the Seattle Times, Adrian talked about his development.

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"Actually that's been a pretty big adjustment for me," said Adrian. "From moving to swimming at a university that's bigger than yourself to ultimately swimming for yourself at something like Olympic trials."

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Adrian won the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in the 100-meter freestyle, so he must have gotten the hang of it. His experience in a team setting also allows Adrian to potentially play a more important role in the U.S. men's 4x100-meter freestyle and medley relay teams.

After all, three of his four World Championship medals are gold and all were from relay events. He already possesses previous Olympic experience as part of the USA's 4x100 freestyle relay team in Beijing.

So, it's certainly an interesting position for Adrian.

Even better, though, he feels optimistic about the future:

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"I love the fact that I'm so young," he said. "I love the fact that I still have so much upside. There are so many things I can do, train for and try to get better."

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Only 23 years old, Adrian still has time to grow. As for the London Games, he enters the 100 free with the sixth-fastest-seeded time and has a great opportunity to medal since only two of the finalists from 2008 return in 2012 for this event (Cesar Cielo, Brazil and Stefan Nystrand, Sweden).

Interestingly enough, Adrian has a faster seeded time than Nystrand and isn't far behind Cielo, who also happens to be the world-record holder (same prelim heat as well).

Therefore, we can anticipate Adrian progressing through the prelim and semifinal before going for the gold. He also has historical motivation; the United States have not won gold in the 100 freestyle since Matt Biondi in 1988.

Adrian is the next great men's American swimmer, and although Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are bigger names, we get to see a rising star.

Considering his potential in the 100 free, it would not be surprising to see Adrian get an opportunity in both 100-meter relays for the U.S. If so, the man possesses legitimate talent to swim the fastest leg.

If Team USA wants gold in both events, Adrian has to be a strong contributor.

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