Abbey Weitzeil came to Cal with plenty of pedigree.
She arrived in Berkeley in the fall of 2016, soon after competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Weitzeil had two Olympic medals -- a silver in the 400-meter freestyle relay and gold in the 400-meter medley relay -- before she swam a single race for the Golden Bears.
Now, Weitzeil is eyeing a ticket to Tokyo. She can seal her spot on the 2020 United States Olympic Swimming Team at the Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb. in June.
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Here's everything you need to know about the Cal star swimmer.
Bio
Name: Abbey Weitzeil
Age: 23
Sport: Swimming
College: Cal
Olympic History
News
Weitzeil won a gold medal as part of the United States' 400-meter medley relay team, swimming the freestyle leg in the preliminaries to secure the Americans' spot in the final. She also anchored the 400-meter freestyle relay team in the final of that race, earning a silver medal in the process.
The Saugus, Calif. native also swam in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events, finishing seventh and 12th, respectively. She and Simone Manuel, who silvered in both, were the only Americans who swam in those races.
Fun Facts
Weitzeil originally started swimming as a 9-year-old, and only because her sisters did it. She wasn't a fan of weekend practices, either, and briefly gave up on the sport.
"It just wasn't for me at the time and I didn't like it, so I quit," she said told NBC Sports in the feature story embedded in this piece. "And then I immediately was like, 'You know what, I miss it -- for some reason, I don't why.' So I went back to it, and when I started dedicating myself and going to all the practices and everything, that's when I started to take off and really realize that I like it."
It's safe to say she made the right call. Here are some more facts about Weitzeil.
- She set the American, U.S. Open and NCAA record in the 50-meter freestyle (21.02 seconds) in March 2019 and broke her own record in December (20.90 seconds) at the Minnesota Invitational. Weitzel became the first woman to cross the 21-second threshold.
- Her national team experience has only gotten more extensive since Rio. She silvered in the 400-meter freestyle relay at the 2019 FINA World Championships in South Korea, and she represented the United States at the 2017 Worlds in the 50-meter freestyle.
- Weitzeil originally committed to Cal in 2014 and would've started at Berkeley in 2015 had she not competed in the Olympics. She is a public health major.
Social Media
Twitter: @abbeyweitzeil
Instagram: @abbeyweitzeil