Congratulation to SSPP Alumni Tyler Christianson. He will be representing Panama at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in Swiming.

Below is an article from his alma mater, Notre Dame:

The Irish will be represented in the pool at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo this summer. Student-athlete Tyler Christianson, a rising sophomore, will swim for Panama in the Olympic Games, and Notre Dame head swim coach Mike Litzinger will serve on the Panamanian Olympic Swim Team Coaching Staff. Notre Dame student Ilija Tadic will compete for Montenegro in the Paralympic Games.

Christianson will take part in the 200 Breast and 200 IM in Tokyo (with events spanning from July 27-30), and Tadic will swim the 50 Free on Aug. 29.

A 2021 NCAA Championships qualifier in his first collegiate season, Christianson finished 24th in the nation in the 200 Breast and 42nd in the 200 IM. In Irish records, after just one season, he ranks fourth all-time in the 200 Breast (1:54.32) and the 400 IM (3:44.49), and sixth all-time in the 200 IM (1:45.09).

This summer will mark Litzinger’s second stint as a national team coach, having previously been named to the U.S. National Team staff in 2014 while mentoring University of North Carolina butterflier Ben Colley to a spot on the team.

Three previous Irish swimmers have competed at the Olympic Games. In 1996, Jilen Siroky swam the 200 Breast for the United States in Atlanta. In 2000 (Sydney), Christel Bouvron represented Singapore in the 200 and 400 Fly, and in 2004 in Athens, Bouvron again swam for Singapore in the 200 Fly, as Andrew MacKay also competed, swimming the 200 and 400 IM for the Cayman Islands.