Bernard Henry (B.J.) Johnson (born April 20, 1987) is an American

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

events.

Early life

Johnson was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and is Jewish."BJ Johnson,"
teamusa.org. His parents are Sandra and Bernard Johnson, and he has a sister, Roxanne. His nickname is Baba Juice. He attended Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, where he graduated in 2005. He swam for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

under Head Coach Skip Kenney, graduating in 2009 with a major in Mechanical Engineering.

High School

At Garfield High School, Johnson was an All-American swimmer during both his junior and senior years."Player Bio: BJ Johnson" - GoStanford.com , Stanford Athletics
/ref> At the 2005 Washington state championship, he finished second in the 100 fly and the 200 IM.

Stanford

Swimming for

, in both 2007 and 2008 Johnson was

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

All-Academic first-team. In his junior season in 2007-08, his 2:04.07 time in the 200y breaststroke was the seventh-fastest time for Stanford on record, and his 57.25 time in the 100y breaststroke was the eighth-fastest. Johnson qualified for the

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, coming in 4th in the 200m breaststroke and 7th in the 100m breaststroke. In April 2016, he won the 200m breaststroke in 2:14.16 at the Arena Pro Swim meet.

Maccabiah Games

Johnson was on Team USA at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

, having chosen not to compete in the World Trials so he could place his attention on the Maccabiah Games."Ervin Opens Maccabiah Games With 100 Free Gold,"
''SwimSwam Magazine''. He won gold medals in the men's 100m breaststroke, with a time of 1:01.27 (a new Maccabiah record), as well as in the 200m breaststroke, with a time of 2:11.60.">"Ervin Opens Maccabiah Games With 100 Free Gold,"
''SwimSwam Magazine''. From 2013-2015, he swam for Stanford Masters, part of United States Masters Swimming, focusing on the 50, 100, and 200 Breaststroke, and achieved a few top ten age group times.

References

External links

* *
BJ Johnson – Stanford University athlete profile at GoStanford.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, B. J. 1987 births Living people American male breaststroke swimmers Jewish American swimmers Maccabiah Games medalists in swimming Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games Stanford Cardinal men's swimmers Stanford University alumni Swimmers from Seattle Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games swimmers for the United States 21st-century American Jews Jews from Washington (state)