Team USA swimmer Michael Andrew confirmed Thursday that he remains unvaccinated for the coronavirus ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, reaffirming a stance he and his family made clear at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials last month and probably subjecting himself and U.S. officials to further uncomfortable questions when the Games begin in two weeks.

Andrew, 22, said during a remote media availability from the U.S. swim team's training camp in Hawaii that he chose not to get vaccinated in the month between the trials and the Olympics, explaining: "It was kind of a last moment. I didn't want to put anything in my body that I didn't know how I would potentially react to. As an athlete on the elite level, everything we do is very calculated. … I didn't want to risk any days out, because there are periods where, if you take the vaccine, you have to deal with some days off."

Dave Durden, the men's coach for the U.S. swimming team, deflected a question about Andrew's vaccination status, saying: "All of our athletes, in the community that we're in right now, we're being very conscious, being very safe with how we're handling our teams, how we're going from place to place, how we're operating in our training camp environment, how we are effectively bubbling ourselves. … And that's probably the more important piece of this. Regardless of vaccinations or not vaccinated, it's what our attitudes and actions are."