Nathan Adrian, Olympic gold medalist, to compete on ‘Special Forces’

For Bremerton-born Nathan Adrian, Wales reminded him of home.

“It’s super similar, really green, although Wales has a little bit less predictable weather,” says Adrian, a five-time Olympic gold-winning swimmer who’s making his reality TV competition debut in Fox’s “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” which filmed in Wales last May. “In Washington, the weather changes are fairly gradual. In Wales, it would be crazy beautiful, sunny, and suddenly it’s storming and cold. And the water was cold, but not quite as cold as the Puget Sound. At least I was prepared for that.”

This third season of “Special Forces” (8 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 8) has Adrian competing alongside actors Stephen Baldwin, Kyla Pratt, Denise Richards and Christy Carlson Romano; surfer Alana Blanchard; soccer player Landon Donovan; motocross champion Carey Hart; TV personality Brody Jenner; fellow Olympic athletes Marion Jones and Jordyn Wieber; former “Bachelorette” stars Ali Fedotowsky-Manno and Trista Sutter; former NFL stars Cam Newton and Golden Tate; and model Kayla Nicole.

In the episodes, which air two per week for five weeks, recruits undergo training in ocean warfare on land and sea, including a hostage rescue, ladder crossing between steep cliffs 100 feet above the sea, surf immersion and more. There are no votes and no eliminations; competitors exit the show by giving up, through failure, injury or on the orders of one of the directing staff agents, ex-special forces operatives Rudy Reyes, Mark “Billy” Billingham, Jason “Foxy” Fox and Jovon “Q” Quarles.

“They can tear you down when you’re at your worst, then they can also build you up when you need it,” Adrian says of the show’s operatives. “You find yourself in vulnerable moments in the show, and I do think that’s one of the reasons the cast members wind up connecting so quickly — out of necessity.”

Adrian hadn’t watched “Special Forces” until his agent told him about the possibility of being on the show. Adrian has a 2- and 4-year-old with wife Hallie Ivester, so he says he doesn’t watch much TV, but he was a fan of “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” when he was in college at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Then I watched a little bit of (‘Special Forces’) and I also spoke with a former contestant, (former ‘Bachelor’ star) Tyler Cameron, and he had only positive things to say,” Adrian says. “The crazy thing is, it’s really difficult to put into words what the experience is like.”

Adrian says unlike in the Olympics, “Special Forces” players compete alongside one another rather than against one another. And there are many unknowns.

“In the Olympics, you know what’s coming, you know what to expect,” Adrian says. “I know the pool is 50 meters. I can look up a diagram of the pool. We have sit-down meetings where we talk about how long it will take the bus to get to the pool and whether the bus will run into traffic. So many variables are controlled. (‘Special Forces’) is the exact opposite. You have to be ready for anything at any given time, sleeping with one eye open. You don’t know how long the drive will be to the (filming) location, you don’t know if food or water will be available, which is why it becomes such a mental game.”

Still, Adrian sees “Special Forces” as the right fit for him due to its physical challenges, lack of drama and opportunity to compete against yourself.

“It was a pretty instantaneous ‘yes’ in my head just because I went from this life of training and testing myself consistently — really, constantly — and having these metrics to try to live to and compare to, and I don’t have that as much in my life anymore, especially in a physical realm,” Adrian says.

A 2006 Bremerton High School grad, Adrian began swimming at age 4 and competed in multiple Olympic Games. After recovering from a 2018 testicular cancer diagnosis, Adrian failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. He now operates AC Swim Club in Marin County, Calif., with former Cal swim team buddy Will Copeland, teaching and leading a team of swim instructors.

Adrian says “Special Forces” reignited his interest in coaching, which he does not only when giving lessons himself but also when training his staff of swim school instructors.

“I have to figure out how to get the best results in the water from them as teachers,” Adrian says. “I’m 36 years old and I remember what I felt like when my instructor looked me in the eye and welcomed me into the pool 32 years ago when I was 4 years old. We want to give that to the next generation of kids learning how to swim. … Statistics say we probably won’t teach the next 100-(meter) freestyle gold medalist at our facility, but if we can foster a love for the water in some of these kids, and their lives can change in a positive way, that just means the world.”