Jay Litherland (born August 24, 1995) is an American competition

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 ...

. He represents DC Trident which is part of the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) was an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

. He won the silver medal in the Men's 400 Individual Medley at the

2020 Tokyo 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 ...

in a time of 4:10.28. He was a World University Games gold medalist at the

2015 Summer Universiade The 2015 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXVIII Summer Universiade () and also known as Gwangju 2015 () was a multi-sport event for student and youth athletes sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), hel ...

and a bronze medalist at the

FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships (commonly referred to as 'Junior World Championships' or 'Junior Worlds') is an international swimming championship event organized biennially by World Aquatics for swimmers aged 14–18 years as of ...

. Litherland competed for the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

in American collegiate swimming.

Early life

Litherland was born in

Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223,812 households, and a population de ...

, Japan as a triplet, along with brothers Mick and Kevin. His father, Andrew Litherland, is a chef from New Zealand, and his mother, Chizuko, is from Japan. He grew up speaking Japanese at home. The family settled in

Johns Creek, Georgia Johns Creek is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 82,453. The city is a northeastern suburb of Atlanta. History In the early 19th century, the Johns Cr ...

, and Litherland was named an All-American in swimming while he was a student at Chattahoochee High School. Litherland and his brothers grew up swimming at Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta, and each attended and competed as swimmers at the University of Georgia. Litherland received U.S. citizenship in high school. As a triple citizen of Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, he had the option of competing for any of those three countries at the Olympics. He originally contacted the New Zealand swimming federation with interest in competing for them for the 2016 Olympics, but he had already competed for the U.S. at an international event, meaning he would have required special permission to switch to New Zealand. His brothers decided to participate in the New Zealand Olympic trials instead of the U.S. trials, which left Litherland "kind of bummed that I'm not representing New Zealand with them, but I'm really excited for them." His brothers ended up not making the New Zealand team, so all three competed in the U.S. trials together. He is fluent in Japanese.

College Career: University of Georgia

International career

2015 World University Games

At the

in Gwangju, Litherland won gold in the 400-meter IM, out-splitting compatriot Josh Prenot by 3 seconds on the freestyle leg to overtake him with a time of 4:12.43.

2016 U.S. Olympic Trials

At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, Litherland qualified for his first Olympic team by placing second in the 400-meter IM behind his Georgia teammate Chase Kalisz in a time of 4:11.02.

2016 Rio Olympics

At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Litherland placed 5th in the 400-meter IM with a time of 4:11.68.

2017 National Championships/World Championship Trials

At the 2017 USA Swimming Championships, Litherland placed 2nd in the 400-meter IM with a time of 4:09.31, qualifying him to swim the event at that year's World Championships. He also finished 5th in the 200-meter IM, 9th in the 400-meter freestyle, and 7th in the 200-meter freestyle.

2017 World Championships

At the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships () were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

, Litherland placed 5th in the 400-meter IM in a time of 4:12.05. He also swam in the heats of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, and earned his first World Championship medal, a bronze, when the US team placed 3rd in the final.

2018 U.S. National Championships

At the 2018 USA Swimming Championships, Litherland swam a time of 4:10.21 in the 400-meter IM to placed 2nd. He also finished 6th in the 200-meter IM and 7th in the 200-meter freestyle.

2019 World Championships

Jay's only event at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

was on the final day. With Teammate Chase Kalisz failing to make the final, Jay Litherland was the only American in the 400 IM Final. Sitting 3.34 Seconds behind the leader

Daiya Seto is a Japanese professional swimmer who specializes in individual medley, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle events. He holds the world record in the short course 400-metre individual medley and formerly held the world record in the short ...

at the 300 mark, Litherland closed the gap to 0.27, placing 2nd and gaining him his first individual World Championship medal.

ISL – DC Trident

2020 Tokyo Olympics

In the 400 meter individual medley Litherland closed strongly to win the silver medal in a time of 4:10.28. He outtouched bronze medalist Brendon Smith by one-tenth of a second.

Career best times

Long course (50-meter pool)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Litherland, Jay 1995 births Living people American male medley swimmers American people of New Zealand descent American sportspeople of Japanese descent Olympic swimmers for the United States Swimmers from Atlanta Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Georgia Bulldogs men's swimmers Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American sportsmen Sportspeople from Johns Creek, Georgia Litherland, Jay Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in swimming