Larsen Alan Jensen (born September 1, 1985) is an American former competition swimmer and a two-time Olympic medalist.

Early life

Larsen Jensen was born September 1, 1985, in Bakersfield, California and learned to swim in a backyard pool from his mother Barbara, a former distance freestyler who nearly made the Olympics. He attended Bakersfield's

Garces Memorial High School Garces Memorial High School, commonly shortened to Garces High School, is a Catholic high school in Bakersfield, California. The school offers college prep, honors, and Advanced Placement (AP) courses in many subjects. As a Catholic institution, ...

, and trained and competed for Bakersfield Swim Club under Coach Jim Richey. He swam as part of his High School team only in his Freshman and Senior years, as rules restricted club swimmers from swimming with their High School teams. He began swimming with the Mission Viejo Nadadores under Head Coach Bill Rose in the summer prior to his High School Senior year. Jensen made the finals in the 2002 Winter nationals in the 800-meter freestyle. At the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan in August 2002, Jenson broke the American record for the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 7:52.45, finishing second and earned a bronze in the 1500-meter freestyle.Arritt, Dan, "Mission Viejo Set for Another Run", ''The Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, March 15, 2003, pg. 57 At the 2003 World Championships, Jensen earned a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 800-meter freestyle, his first medal at the international level. Beginning in the Fall of 2003, Jenson attended and swam for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

under Hall of Fame Coach Mark Schubert. As a Senior at USC, at the March, 2007 NCAA championships, Larson set a USC record swimming the 500 freestyle in 4:09.80, though he fell short of the U.S. record.

Olympics, 2004-8

After completing his first year at USC, Jenson placed second in the July, 2004 Olympic trials in Long Beach in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:46.56 earning a spot on the U.S. team. Having benefitted from the distance training, a specialty of Bill Rose and the Nadadores, he placed first in the trial finals of the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 14:56.71. He competed in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, winning silver in the 1,500-meter freestyle, while setting a new American record of 14:45.29. He also competed in the 400-meter freestyle, where he finished fourth. Four years later, having graduated USC, Jenson competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he won the bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:42.78, who moved into third place near the end of the race. Jenson placed fifth in the 1,500-meter freestyle with a time of 14:48.16 with Oussama Mellouli of Tunesia taking the gold in an upset win. At the

2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships () or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005. They took place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's Island. Competition Medal standings :''o ...

, he won silver medals in the 800 and 1,500-meter freestyle races. Jensen completed his degree in political science with a minor in business at the

in 2007. Jensen has been an American record holder in the 400-meter freestyle and a former American record holder in the 1,500-meter freestyle.

Post-swimming careers

After Jensen's swimming career ended, he took a career in the military enlisting in the United States Navy and completing Officer Candidate School in 2009 eventually gaining a commission as an Ensign. He trained for two years to receive his SEAL trident, and completed several tours in Afghanistan and other combat areas, serving as a

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

from 2009 to 2014. Larsen married his wife Emily in July, 2013. Following his retirement from the military, Larsen enrolled into

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

and obtained an MBA.

Personal bests (long course)

References

External links