To the victors go the spoils. Just a couple of short months after taking a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in the 100 free (really, a surprise silver medal), Jimmy Feigen has signed his first professional contract with TYR Sport, Inc.
Among others, he joins fellow Longhorn Aquatics swimmer Ricky Berens in TYR’s lineup of currently-sponsored American athletes.
“Just joined the TYR team!” Feigen posted this evening on his personal Facebook page. “My first professional contract woohoo can’t wait to represent their brand with pride!”
Feigen is now a full year removed from college, where he was a three-time NCAA Champion (all of which came as a senior in 2012). He swam at the 2012 Olympics on the American 400 free relay, where he won a silver medal as a prelims swimmer, and got the same silver in 2013 at Worlds as the anchor of the finals relay. His biggest international gold came at the 2012 World Short Course Championships, as part of the American 400 free relay; in 2011, he was also the World University Games champion in the 100 free individually.
His true star moment was that 100 free at the World Championships, though. After taking some amount of criticism, both from fans and from himself, when he failed to hold off the French as the anchor of the 400 free relay, Feigen gathered himself and put up the swim-of-his-life so far in that 100 free final. That’s the sort of resilient swim worthy of the title “professional,” and he now has the contract to go with it.
Though Feigen is just now turning pro, he’s had a ton of marketability since he was in just high school, where his 50 yard free national high school record, and exuberant celebration, was one of the first true viral videos on the internet.
See that video below, originally posted by littlekid137:
Good for Jimmy! I hope he makes a great deal of money, and keeps getting faster. Go Horns!