In the 2016 Summer Olympics 4x100-meter freestyle relay a gold was won with Michael Phelps, Caeleb Dressel, and Ryan Held.

His mother is Chinese from Hong Kong[4][5] and works as a nurse for the Bremerton school district; his father is a retired nuclear engineer for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

In the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Adrian combined with Ryan Lochte, Bryan Lundquist and Doug Van Wie won gold in a world record time of 3:08.44.

[14] For his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian combined with Randall Bal, Mark Gangloff and Ryan Lochte, won silver behind Russia.

[17] At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Adrian swam the first leg in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, splitting a time of 48.82 seconds.

Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Matt Grevers completed the relay with a final time of 3:12.23, a world record.

[18] This record was broken one day later when Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak swam a time of 3:08.24, beating France and Australia in the final.

[23][24] After Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Matt Grevers completed their legs in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, the United States had a slight deficit behind the Russian team.

[25] In the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian contributed in the heats (with Matt Grevers, Mark Gangloff and Tyler McGill) and earned a gold medal when the U.S. team placed first in the final.

[29] The following day, Adrian lined up alongside Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Jason Lezak to anchor the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

[31] About an hour and a half later, Adrian competed in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Aaron Peirsol, Mark Gangloff and Michael Phelps.

[32] Adrian won his first medal, a bronze, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak.

In his last event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Adrian teamed with Mark Gangloff, Michael Phelps, and Nick Thoman to win gold in a time of 3:32.06.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Adrian won his inaugural Olympiad medal, a silver, in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones and Ryan Lochte, with the team finishing behind France.

On the fifth day of competition, Adrian won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle final, defeating favorite James Magnussen of Australia by one one-hundredth (0.01) of a second.

[38] Adrian won a second gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition.

In his first event at the World Championships, Adrian combined with Ryan Lochte, Anthony Ervin, and Jimmy Feigen in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, with the team finishing behind France.

On the same night, Adrian was also part of the winning 4x100-meter mixed freestyle relay along with Ryan Lochte, Simone Manuel, and Missy Franklin.

[40] Adrian won another gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay with Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, and Tom Shields.

He won his first medal as the anchor for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay alongside Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps, and Ryan Held.

He capped off his Olympics with another gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay on the final day of the competition, swimming alongside Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, and Michael Phelps.

[52] On the fourth day of the Olympic Trials, Adrian competed in the prelims of the 100-meter freestyle, ranking 6th of all heats and advancing to the semifinals with a time of 48.37.

[74] Adrian appeared in episode 5 of the 2009 season of the Discovery Channel series, MythBusters, to assist hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman in testing the myth that it is possible to swim as fast in syrup as in water.