Jordan Pisey Windle is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

diver. He is the first diver of Cambodian descent to compete in the

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. He was the 2019

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Champion in the men's platform event and 2021 NCAA Champion in the men's 1 meter event. In January 2025 he was permanently banned by

SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization set up to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in Olympic sports in the United States. Established in 2017 under the Safe Sport Authorization Act, Prot ...

for sexual, inappropriate, and emotional misconduct.

Early life

Jordan was born in

Sihanoukville Sihanoukville (, ), also known as Kampong Saom (, ) or Preah Sihanouk (, ), is a coastal city in Cambodia and the capital of Preah Sihanouk Province, at the tip of an elevated peninsula in the country's south-west on the Gulf of Thailand. T ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

on November 13, 1998. At the age of one, his biological parents died and he was placed in the Women and Children's Vocational Center at Chom Chao. The nannies in the orphanage named him Pisey, which translates to "little darling" in English. When he was 18 months old, he was adopted by Jerry Windle, a single gay man.

Career

When he was seven years old, Jerry enrolled Jordan in the Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Fun Camp in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, where he was noticed by diving coach Tim O'Brien, son of Ron O'Brien, who coached four-time Olympic gold medalist

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic Diving (sport), diver who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second ...

. O'Brien told Jerry that if he enrolled Jordan into a diving program, he would one day be a National Champion and potentially an Olympian. Jordan's first diving coach was Evan Linette, a former national champion diver. Jordan trained for four years in Fort Lauderdale with Evan and Dave Burgering, 1980 Olympic Team Member, and Olympic diving Coach. Jordan won his first junior national title at nine years old and has been referred to as "Little Louganis" ever since. Jordan appeared in the

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's "Getcha Head in the Game" when he was ten. The family then moved to the USA Diving National Training Center in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, where Jordan trained and qualified to compete at the Olympic Team Trials at age 13. Jordan was named the Grand Marshall of the 2012 Indianapolis Pride Parade

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. Following the 2012 Olympics, Jordan began training at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

under coach Nunzio Esposto before being recruited to dive for the University of Texas and coached by Olympian and Olympic Coach Matt Scoggin. Windle was raised in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Jordan along with his father, Jerry co-authored the illustrated children's book ''An Orphan No More: The True Story of a Boy: Chapter One''. The book's foreword was written by Louganis. Windle dives collegiately for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

. He was the 2019

Champion in the men's platform event and 2021 NCAA Champion in the men's 1 meter event. He is also a seven-time U.S. Senior National Champion and six time U.S. Junior National Diving Champion. He also holds the NCAA Div 1 records for both the 3m springboard and the platform events. He is the only diver to win Diver of the Year four years in a row in the Big 12 Conference. In 2012 Windle was at the time the youngest person ever to qualify for the U.S. Olympic diving trials. Windle was a member of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team representing the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

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in the men's 10 metres platform event in which he finished in ninth place. He is the first diver of Cambodian descent to compete in the Olympics.

Permanent ban

In December 2021, the

United States Center for SafeSport The United States Center for SafeSport is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization set up to reduce sexual abuse of minors and athletes in Olympic sports in the United States. Established in 2017 under the Protecting Young Victims from Sex ...

(SafeSport) and the Longhorns placed Windle on "temporary suspension" for "allegations of misconduct", as an investigation continued. In January 2025 he was fully and permanently banned by SafeSport, with a no-contact directive, for "Sexual Misconduct – involving Minors; Inappropriate Conduct; Emotional Misconduct.:Braden Keith (January 14, 2025)
"Olympian Jordan Windle Becomes First USA Diving Member Banned in Six Years,"
''SwimSwam''.

Personal life

Windle was bullied as a child because of his

interracial adoption Interracial adoption (historically referred to as transracial adoption) refers to the act of placing a child of one racial or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another racial or ethnic group. Interracial adoption is not inherently the same a ...

and for having a gay father. He is an

ally An ally is a member of an alliance. Ally may also refer to: Places * Ally, Cantal, France, a commune * Ally, Haute-Loire, France, a commune * Ally, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, a townland Arts and entertainment * Ally (novel), ''Ally'' (nove ...

of the

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

. Windle has participated in the

It Gets Better Project It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, m ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Windle, Jordan Living people 1998 births American male divers Olympic divers for the United States Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns men's divers People from Sihanoukville province Sportspeople from Fort Lauderdale, Florida American people of Cambodian descent Cambodian sportsmen American LGBTQ rights activists American adoptees 21st-century American sportsmen