Olympic silver medalist swimmer Jay Litherland chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his latest endeavors.
On March 14, 2022, it was announced that Litherland re-signed with Mizuno Swim all the way through 2024. “That feels amazing,” he exclaimed. “I think Mizuno is the best suit out there. I am excited to work with the USA and the Japan team as well.”
Mizuno swim partnership
Mizuno is a global leader in sports apparel and equipment. Litherland re-signed with them through 2024 after a successful past year in the pool at the Tokyo Olympic Games, where he claimed the silver medal in the 400 meter individual medley (IM) for Team USA. “Honestly, going into the final, I knew I had a shot for gold. It was a dream come true. I was happy it was Chase and I coming in first and second place,” he said.
“I had big goals for Tokyo since in Rio, I came in fifth. To win the Olympic silver medal in my home country was really great,” Litherland added.
With this partnership, Mizuno Swim USA will utilize Jay’s expertise in the swim space to advance their product line and greater serve the swim industry.
Litherland is a Japanese-American and fluent in Japanese, and he will continue to
be a massive benefit to the swim division as he works with our USA and global teams to advance Mizuno products and build brand loyalty in the swim space in the United States.
Jay Litherland is a former Georgia Bulldog and a longtime Mizuno supporter. He will work with Mizuno throughout the next two years to develop their product and represent the brand in his career in his pursuit of Paris 2024.
Mizuno has Litherland covered in all aspects of his training and competition by providing him with high-tech Mizuno swim products but also their incredible training apparel and accessories.
Litherland is a versatile American swimmer of both Japanese and New Zealand descent from Alpharetta, Georgia. He is a triplet alongside brothers Kevin and Mick Litherland. The three Litherland boys grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where they swam for Dynamo swim club.
ISL with the DC Trident
Litherland was proud to compete for the DC Trident swimming team in the International Swimming League (ISL). “DC Trident all the way,” Litherland said. “Season 3 was definitely our best one. This was also my second time in Italy so we were able to explore more and do a lot more things. There was so much freedom there in Naples and a lot of pizza.”
“In Eindhoven, we got to visit all of the cool cities,” he added.
Litherland had great words about Kaitlin Sandeno for serving as the General Manager of the DC Trident for the past three seasons. “Kaitlin is so awesome, and she is one of the reasons I stayed with her team,” he said.
Future plans
This summer, Litherland is looking forward to hopefully competing at the World Championships in Budapest. “It is going to be fun, Budapest is awesome,” he said.
On his future plans, he said, “Presently, I also make music, and I really want to show what I have been doing with my music. My brothers and I are finishing up some new music and we hope to release it sometime this year.”
Advice for hopefuls
For young and aspiring swimmers, he said, “You need to dream big. Have a dream first, work hard, and let everything else take care of itself, and some magic will happen where you will get to that goal and dream. Also, love what you are doing since swimming can be a tough sport in terms of training every day.”
Litherland listed the backstroke and the freestyle as his two personal favorite strokes in swimming.
Success
For Litherland, success is a never-ending thing. “When you are fulfilled with love, you are successful,” he said. “There is no ending to success. You can find success in anything.”
To learn more about Olympic and world champion swimmer Jay Litherland, follow him on Instagram.
