Abbey Weitzeil


Abbey Weitzeil is an American competition swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle. A two time Olympic medallist, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay for swimming in the preliminary heats and a silver medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She is the American record holder in the 50-yard freestyle and is part of the American Record in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Starting in the fall of 2016, Weitzeil will attend University of California, Berkeley and swim for the California Golden Bears.

Swimming career

2014 Speedo Winter Junior National Championships

At the 2014 Speedo Winter Junior National Championships in Federal Way, Washington Weitzeil set the American Record in the 100-yard freestyle. Her record time of 46.29 bested the previous record held by Simone Manuel by 0.33. She set the record while swimming lead off for Canyons Aquatic Club's 4x100 Freestyle relay. Weitzeil became the 17th teenager to hold the record in that event. This was the first American Record ever set at a Junior National event.

2014: International Debut & Pan Pacifics

At the 2014 Phillips 66 Nationals, the selection meet for the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and 2015 World Championships, Weitzeil qualified for both meets by finishing fifth in the 50-meter freestyle and fourth in the 100-meter freestyle. At the Pan Pacific Championships, her first international swimming competition, Weitzeil finished 10th in the 100-meter free. She also won silver as a member of the 400-meter free relay alongside Simone Manuel, Missy Franklin, and Shannon Vreeland, splitting 53.81 seconds on her leg.
Later that year, Weitzeil went on to win one gold and two silver medals at the 2014 World Short Course Championships.

2015 World Championships

At the 2015 World Championships, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter mixed freestyle relay and a bronze in 4x100-meter freestyle relay. She swam in the preliminary heats for both relays.

2016 American Short Course Championships

At the 2016 American Short Course Championships in Austin, Texas Weitzeil set the American Record in the 50 yard Freestyle with a time of 21.12. The previous record held by Lara Jackson was a 21.27 and was set during the "super suit" era.

2016 Summer Olympics

Weitzeil qualified for her first Olympics by sweeping both the 50- and the 100-meter freestyles at the 2016 US Olympic trials. In the 100-meter freestyle, she won with a time of 53.28 seconds, 24 hundredths of a second ahead of second-place finisher Simone Manuel. She also finished first in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.28.
On the first night of the swimming portion at the Olympics, she won a silver medal as part of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay along with Manuel, Dana Vollmer, and Katie Ledecky in 3:31.89, which was a new American Record. Her split of 52.56 was the fastest among her team. She also swam in the preliminary heats of the 4x100-meter medley relay and received a gold medal when the team won in the finals. In her individual events, Weitzeil finished seventh in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 53.30 and missed qualifying for the final of the 50-meter freestyle.

College

In her senior year at California, Weitzeil was the winner of the Honda Sports Award, given to the nation's top female collegiate competitor in swimming and diving.

Personal best times