Adin Williams is hopeful to swim in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. (Photo courtesy George Fox University)
Adin Williams is hopeful to swim in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. (Photo courtesy George Fox University)

After a decorated high school career in para swimming, Gladstone graduate Adin Williams has taken it to a new level during his freshman year at George Fox University.

Williams broke through in a big way at the U.S. Para Swimming Championships Dec. 6-8 in Lewisville, Tex. He won five gold medals and set two American records, swimming to a personal best in all six of his events, and was named to the U.S. Paralympics national team.

It was a stunning performance, even for Williams, who competes in the S6 category for skeletal dysplasia, or dwarfism.

“I thought I had a chance to maybe win a couple of events because I had done these national meets before, but no way did I think I was going to break American records, nor make the national team,” said Williams, an eight-time state champion at Gladstone.

Williams will join the national team for a training camp and meet in Colorado Springs next month. He is hopeful to earn a spot on the national team for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo in August.

“I feel like I have it in me,” he said. “I just need to make sure I keep training consistently and keep working hard at it.”

Williams made a splash on the first day of the U.S. Para Swimming Championships by setting an American record by three seconds in winning the 400-meter freestyle (5:32.40). He added a win in the 50 butterfly later in the day.

The 400 freestyle record came as a big surprise, Williams said.

“That's an event I've rarely ever swam,” he said. “I've only swam it a few times, and it hasn't been for like two years. Before this meet, I had been training for maybe four hours a week, and now that I'm in college and swimming at the collegiate level, I'm swimming at least three times as much.”

On Day 2 of the meet, Williams won his third consecutive national title in the 50 freestyle and picked up a win in the 100 backstroke. On Day 3, he set an American record in winning the 100 freestyle (1:12.89) and was runner-up in the 200 individual medley.

Williams, who is studying accounting at George Fox, has come a long way since he began competitive swimming as an eighth-grader.

“I just thought it was a thing that looked like fun,” Williams said. “It's helped me build friendships I wouldn't be able to build had it not been for it. It's taught me that even the hardest challenges can be accomplished.”