Northwestern junior Federico Burdisso became an Olympic medalist Wednesday in Tokyo, taking home the bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly for his home country Italy. 

Burdisso, posting a time of 1:54.45, finished behind Hungary’s Kristóf Milák and Japan’s Tomoru Honda. He defeated Hungary’s Tamás Kenderesi by just seven milliseconds. 

A member of NU’s varsity swimming and diving team since his freshman year, Burdisso has set school records in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle. He’s also broken records at home, serving as the national record holder for Italy in the 200-meter butterfly. 

After his finish, Burdisso became the first active NU athlete to medal in the Olympics since 1956. He is among five athletes with connections to NU competing in this year’s Olympics and is the only current student. 

Burdisso will compete again in the 100-meter butterfly prelims on Thursday, where he will race in the sixth heat. 

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