ADRIAN — Adrian High School junior London Rising, 17, will compete on the international stage later this month.
Rising, who swims with the Greater Toledo Aquatic Club, qualified for the 2025 Adam Peaty Race International Meet to be held in London, England, from May 24-26.
He will be representing the National Club Swimming Association Junior Team, which is made up of 26 girls, 26 boys, and 12 coaches from around the United States. GTAC coach Brent Ransom will be joining the coaching staff and GTAC teammate Max Buff will also be competing in London.
The National Club Swimming Association’s Spring Championships were held in Orlando, Florida, in late March where Rising swam to a personal record of 1:36.70 in the 200-yard freestyle, nearly three seconds under his previous best.
“It was a pretty big PR for me,” Rising said. “It’s not usual at all. I haven’t dropped three seconds probably since I was 9.”
By the age of 9, Rising already had a few years of experience under his belt.
“I feel like I’ve known how to swim my entire life. I know I got into swimming lessons young,” Rising stated. “Starting around 7 years old, I was doing the summer league team through the YMCA, and then I joined the YMCA team in the winter.”
Rising swam for the Adrian Middle School team followed by the Adrian High School team, but has been with GTAC for the last two years. GTAC provides access, opportunities, and training for national level USA Swimming meets and NCSA meets.
“The local team didn’t provide access to USA swimming meets,” Rising explained. “So when I transferred to GTAC things really took off from there.”
GTAC provided Rising with the opportunity to compete in meets all over the country. In addition to the NCSA’s spring championships in Florida, they’ve competed in the states of North Carolina, California and Texas to name a few.
But the AP Race will be Rising’s first taste of international competition and it’s a dish he’s been looking forward to trying.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “This is gonna be good practice for international meets.”
Rising’s actual practice schedule keeps him in the pool six days a week, sometimes two sessions a day, and adds four lifting sessions throughout the week for good measure.
Rising will be competing in five events over the three-day meet. He will swim the 200m freestyle race he qualified in as well as the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 100m fly.
“The end goal — I eventually do want to swim in the Olympics in 2028,” Rising said.
The AP Race will be held at the London Aquatic Centre, which was the home for swimming at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Rising is a member of the class of 2026 and has verbally committed to Arizona State University. The ASU Sun Devils and head coach Herbie Behm won the 2024 National Championship.
He was quick to give thanks to God and his family and GTAC coaches Brent Ransom and Keri Buff along with ASU staff for helping him reach this point in his career. And as he continues to elevate his goals, he is reminded of what first sparked his interest in this sport.
“There is no limit to how fast you can be,” Rising said. “I believe that if you want something bad enough you can work for it. There’s no limits to how hard you can push yourself in practice, and most of the factors can be controlled by you.”
