Giordan Harris
Personal information
Nationality Marshall Islands
Born (1993-04-19) April 19, 1993[1]
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight99 kg (218 lb)
Sport
Country Marshall Islands
SportSwimming
Event50m Freestyle

Giordan Kariara Harris (born April 19, 1993) is a former competitive swimmer, and current swim coach, from Ebeye Island, Kwajalein Atoll, of the Marshall Islands. Harris is a two-time Olympic swimmer, multiple national record holder, NJCAA All American, and NJCAA & NCAA school record holder. Harris participated in numerous international competitions representing his home country, including the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, FINA World Long Course Championships, FINA World Short Course Championships, and most notably the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[2] and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Harris was the first athlete from the Marshall Islands to receive the Oceania Australia Foundation Scholarship and the first athlete raised in the islands to receive an athletic scholarship to an NCAA program in the United States.

Harris is the first Oceania Pacific Islander to coach at the NCAA Division II & Division I level.

International career

Honors

2013 Received the Oceania Australia Foundation Scholarship, to Iowa Lakes College

2014 - 2015 Iowa Lakes Community College (NJCAA) Team Captain

2015 NJCAA All American

Training

Trained with Kwajalein Swim Team until the age of 15.

2010-2012 training location: Spire Institute, Michael Johnson Performance Center, Geneva, Ohio, under Coach: Jim Bocci

2013-2015 training location: Iowa Lakes College, Men's Swimming & Diving, Estherville, Iowa,

2015-2016 training location: The Bolles School - Jacksonville, Florida, under Coach: Jon Sakovich

2016-2018 Maryville University, Maryville University Athletics, St. Louis, MO

Early life

Giordan was raised on Ebeye Island, the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where his mother, Mary Harris, was born. His mom regularly took him to the lagoon as a baby, where he spent countless hours swimming. He started swim team at the age of six and was the first swimmer from Ebeye to be a part of Kwajalein Swim Team on the neighboring US military base which houses the only pool in the Marshall Islands. He traveled to and from practice from Ebeye to Kwajalein, by ferry that took a half hour each way. During training for competitions he would travel back and forth for morning practice and again for evening practice, being on the ferry 4 times in a day.

Giordan is the oldest of three, and has two sisters, Jayana and Jolina. His sister Jolina, is an elite swimmer with Special Olympics with dreams of swimming at the Olympics like her brother.[7] He continues to coach her on his visits home.

  • Harris Bio on the official website of the Olympics Page
  • 2012 Olympics, Training Camp Interview - The Marshall Islands - Olympic Swimmers Making a Splash[8]
  • 2012 Olympics, Reporters Academy Interview - Giordan recovers to take Personal Best for the Marshall Islands[9]
  • 2012 Olympics, Reporters Academy Interview - Team Marshall Islands Reflect on the 30th Olympic Opening Ceremony[10]
  • 2012 Olympics, Reporters Academy Interview - An update on Team RMI[11]
  • 2014 The Fourth Branch Interview[12]
  • 2015 Wire Sports Interview, KAZAN, Russia[13]
  • 2016 University of Maryville Press Article, "Olympic Mojo"[14]

References

  1. "Giordan Harris - Swimming - Olympic Athlete | London 2012". Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  2. "BBC Sport - London 2012 Olympics - Giordan Harris : Marshall Islands, Swimming". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  3. "Micronesian Games 2010". SportsTG. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  4. "2014 Micronesian Games - Swimming Results".
  5. 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle
  6. Marshall Islands at the 2016 Summer Olympics
  7. "A Fish Called Jojo".
  8. Reporters Academy (2012-07-12), The Marshall Islands - Olympic Swimmers - Making a splash., retrieved 2019-07-07
  9. Reporters Academy (2012-08-03), Giordan Recovers to take Personal Best for the Marshall Islands, retrieved 2019-07-07
  10. Reporters Academy (2012-07-29), Team Marshall Islands Reflect on the 30th Olympic Opening Ceremony, retrieved 2019-07-07
  11. Reporters Academy (2012-07-27), An update on Team RMI - The Marshall Islands., retrieved 2019-07-07
  12. "RMI swimmer, Giordan Harris". The Fourth Branch. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  13. "Wire Sports Interview".
  14. "Olympic Mojo". 10 November 2016.
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