Abbey Weitzeil swims during a Women’s 50 freestyle preliminary heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. is headed to the Olympics in Paris and preparing for her third Summer Games as a member of Team USA.
Abbey Weitzeil swims during a Women’s 100 freestyle semifinals heat Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Abbey Weitzeil before a Women’s 50 freestyle preliminary heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Weitzeil, 27, competed in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events at the U.S. Olympic swim trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis last week. She was fifth in the 100-meter freestyle final and third in the 50-meter freestyle final.The top two swimmers in the 50-meter freestyle qualified individually for the U.S. Olympic swim team.
In the 50-meter freestyle, Manuel won in 24.13 seconds. Walsh was second in 24.15 seconds. Weitzeil touched in third place in 24.26 seconds, 0.11 seconds behind Walsh. But her high school success didn’t translate to Olympic success in her first trials. She didn’t qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London, but she said it prepared her for future Olympic trials.She said her first time at the OIympic trials, she was young, 15 years old, and wanted to go for the experience.“I was the girl with nothing to lose,” Weitzeil said. “I was the newbie out there, trying to make my first Olympic team.
She holds the record in the 50-meter freestyle in the USA Swimming Championships in 24.00 seconds, set in 2023, and the course record at Lucas Oil Stadium, also set in 2023.