Van Mathias, a 25-year-old swimmer, broke the American record in the 50m breaststroke, a new Olympic event, in a time of 26.39 seconds at the Bergen Swim Festival in Norway. Mathias had previously competed at Indiana University and worked as director of swimming operations. He returned to competitive swimming last year after seeing the U.S. Championships in Indianapolis and believing he could be competitive. He also made the team for the upcoming Pan.