Ex-Cal Swimmer Nathan Adrian in 'Fighting Spirit' Beer Commercial

Five-time gold medalist failed to make 2021 Olympic team, but is hailed for comeback from testicular cancer
Ex-Cal Swimmer Nathan Adrian in 'Fighting Spirit' Beer Commercial
Ex-Cal Swimmer Nathan Adrian in 'Fighting Spirit' Beer Commercial /

You won’t see former Cal swimmer Nathan Adrian at the Olympics this summer, but you can still see him on television.

The five-time Olympic gold medalist is the subject of a beer commercial that celebrates the “fighting spirit.”

The 32-year-old Adrian, who has participated in three Olympics, certainly personifies the fighting spirit. He recovered from surgery for testicular cancer to compete in the Olympic Trials last month.

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He talked about the diagnosis in the winter of 2018 while still hoping to participate in the 2020 Games, which eventually became the 2021 Games.

Adrian was cleared to train under certain conditions in 2019, then reported in April 2019 that his tests came back clean.

Adrian participated in the Olympic Trials in May, which was a victory of sorts, but failed to qualify for the Olympics in his specialties, the 50 and 100 freestyle.

Nonetheless he personifies the “fighting spirit” the Mexican-based beer company is looking for.

“I do feel like I got stronger in going through this,” Adrian said in the video below. “You don’t know how you’re going to react to learning about your mortality until it honestly happens. Having a fighting spirit means doing everything that you possibly can do in order to give yourself the best chances or winning. When I sit down and look back and say, ‘Did I do everything that I possibly could have done to achieve my goal, to achieve success?’ I get to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Yeah.’”

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Adrian acknowledged the commercial in a Twitter message in May.

Adrian is not the only former Cal athlete to have the “fighting spirit” label placed on him. Tight end Tony Gonzalez, who played for Cal from 1994 through 1996 and is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was the subject of a beer commercial some time ago and it can be seen by clicking here.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.