Adin Williams is hopeful to swim in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. (Photo courtesy George Fox University)

After a decorated high school career in para swimming, Gladstone graduate Adin Williams has taken it to a new level during his freshman year at George Fox University.

Williams broke through in a big way at the U.S. Para Swimming Championships Dec. 6-8 in Lewisville, Tex. He won five gold medals and set two American records, swimming to a personal best in all six of his events, and was named to the U.S. Paralympics national team.

It was a stunning performance, even for Williams, who competes in the S6 category for skeletal dysplasia, or dwarfism.

“I thought I had a chance to maybe win a couple of events because I had done these national meets before, but no way did I think I was going to break American records, nor make the national team,” said Williams, an eight-time state champion at Gladstone.

Williams will join the national team for a training camp and meet in Colorado Springs next month. He is hopeful to earn a spot on the national team for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo in August.

“I feel like I have it in me,” he said. “I just need to make sure I keep training consistently and keep working hard at it.”

Williams made a splash on the first day of the U.S. Para Swimming Championships by setting an American record by three seconds in winning the 400-meter freestyle (5:32.40). He added a win in the 50 butterfly later in the day.

The 400 freestyle record came as a big surprise, Williams said.

“That's an event I've rarely ever swam,” he said. “I've only swam it a few times, and it hasn't been for like two years. Before this meet, I had been training for maybe four hours a week, and now that I'm in college and swimming at the collegiate level, I'm swimming at least three times as much.”

On Day 2 of the meet, Williams won his third consecutive national title in the 50 freestyle and picked up a win in the 100 backstroke. On Day 3, he set an American record in winning the 100 freestyle (1:12.89) and was runner-up in the 200 individual medley.

Williams, who is studying accounting at George Fox, has come a long way since he began competitive swimming as an eighth-grader.

“I just thought it was a thing that looked like fun,” Williams said. “It's helped me build friendships I wouldn't be able to build had it not been for it. It's taught me that even the hardest challenges can be accomplished.”