US Olympian Jay Litherland Is Moving to Japan to Pursue His Music Career

American Olympic swimmer Jay Litherland is moving to Japan to pursue a career in music while keeping his options open for swimming.

Litherland, 29, is one of the three Litherland triplets who all swam collegiately at the University of Georgia. Triple citizens of the US, Japan, and New Zealand, Jay made the biggest splash internationally, winning a silver medal in the 400 IM at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the 2019 World Championships. He was also a Pan American Games Champion in 2023 and World University Games Champion in 2015 in the same event.

He finished 3rd in the event at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, missing the team behind Carson Foster and Chase Kalisz.

While he says he’s not done with swimming, his focus is shifting to his passion outside of the pool: music.

He joined a modeling agency in Tokyo called Stanford Label, which has also launched a music label. Jay, Mick, and Kevin have a musical group called TRiiiPSS that is now signed with that label as well.

The trio plans to release a few singles later this year and have some live shows lined up in Tokyo.

Jay Litherland previously represented the Tokyo Frog Kings in the now-defunct International Swimming League.

“We’ve been making music since college, but since we were all spread out (Kevin was in Japan, and Mick was in Cali) we would always just send each other voice tracks to make the song. So it was hard finishing project,” Jay said.

“But during that time, we each developed our own skills in what we can bring to this group. And now, it’s our first time since college being in the same room making music and the movement is so much faster. I’m just so excited to make music with my bros in an organic setting where we can feed off of each others energy, as well as having support from our music friends that give us a lot of inspiration creatively. It makes such a difference being in Tokyo right now when it comes to what we’re aiming for.”

As for his future in the pool, Jay says that he is “still very unsure.”

“I want to keep training because I do love the water,” he added. “It keeps me centered and it clears my mind.”

Whether that means competing or not, Jay says, is still up in the air – especially given the grueling nature of the 400 IM, which requires a certain level of commitment to training.

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