Margo Geer
Margo Geer was born on March 17, 1992 in Milford Center, Ohio to Mark and Linda Geer. Inspired by her older brother Marcus, Geer decided to start swimming when she was four years old. Growing up, she swam for the Springfield YMCA. In high school, Geer swam for Fairbanks High School.
College Swimming
Geer competed as a Wildcat at the University of Arizona, which then was led by head coach Eric Hansen.
2010-2011
In her first season at Arizona, Geer qualified for NCAA’s in both the 50-yard and the 100-yard freestyles. She finished third in both events. Her performance at NCAA’s that year earned her Arizona Athletics Female Freshman Athlete of the Year.
2011-2012
In her second season, Geer had a tougher lineup at NCAA’s competing in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles individually and also competing as a member of the 200-yard medley relay, the 400-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay, and the 800-yard freestyle relay. At the 2012 NCAA’s Geer finished second in the 50-yard freestyle, third in the 100-yard freestyle, second in the 200-yard medley relay, second in the 400-yard medley relay, third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and third in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Geer recorded a team-high seven All-American honors at NCAA’s and was named Arizona Athletic’s Female Sophomore Athlete of the Year.
2012-2013
In 2013 Geer excelled even more at the NCAA Championships placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, second in the 400-yard medley relay, third in the 200-yard medley relay, second in the 800-yard freestyle relay, second in the 400-yard freestyle relay, and first in her two individual events, the 50 (21.73) and 100-yard (47.19) freestyles. Geer also led the 400-yard freestyle relay to an American record of a 3:10.63.
2013-2014
In her final season as a wildcat, Geer earned herself two fourth place finishes, two 3rd place finishes, two second place finishes, and one first place finish at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships.
She went on to the 2014 NCAA Championships to win the 100-yard freestyle for the second year in a row with a time of 47.10, leading the team to an overall eighth place championship finish.
Geer completed her collegiate career as a 23-time All-American, three-time NCAA Champion, and school record holder in the 100-yard freestyle (47.14), 800-yard freestyle relay, and 400-yard freestyle relay.
National/International Competition
In 2008, Geer qualified to compete at her first U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished 41st in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 26.15.
2012 Olympic Trials (Omaha, Nebraska)
Geer qualified for her second Olympic Trials in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle. She finished seventh in the 50 with a 25.26 and 12th in the 100 with a 54.85.
2013 World Champ Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Geer qualified for a chance to compete for a spot on the World Championship Team in Indianapolis. In Indy, Geer placed fourth in the 50-meter freestyle with a 25.13 and seventh in the 100-meter freestyle with a 54.81.
2014 Phillips 66 National Championships (Irvine, California)
At the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships, Geer swam to a seventh-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle (25.06) and a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle (54.51).
Her swims earned Geer a spot on the 2014-2015 US National team, and she was selected to the 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatics Super Series roster and the 2015 FINA World Championships roster in the 400 free relay.
2015 World Championships (Kazan, Russia)
In the prelims of the 400 free relay, Margo swam a 3rd leg of 53.37, earning her a spot on the finals relay, which ultimately got 3rd behind Australia and the Netherlands.
Her relay splits earned her a spot on the 400 mixed free relay prelims, where she split 53.12 to help USA take the top seed. At night, USA set a world record, garnering medal number 2 for Geer, this time a gold.
For her relay heroics thus far in the meet, USA put her in the anchor spot on the 400 mixed medley relay in finals, where she split 53.77 to touch at 2nd behind Great Britain, who set the world record by half a second.
To cap the meet, Margo swam on the prelims 400 medley relay, where she split 53.18 and USA was seeded 2nd going into the finals. However, USA was just outside the medals at night, touching 4th.
2016 Olympic Trials (Omaha, Nebraska)
Geer wasn’t able to repeat her performances from 2015 at the Olympic Trials, placing 16th in the 50 (25.56) and 15th in the 100 free (54.91).
2017 US Open/Moving to Indiana
Geer competed at the 2017 US Open representing Tucson Ford Dealers, putting up times of 55.32 and 25.38 in the 100/50. Soon after this meet, Margo made the move to Bloomington, Indiana to train with new IU associate head coach Coley Stickels.
In the 2018 spring season, Geer frequented the TYR Pro Swim Series, posting best times of 53.74 in the 100 (Austin) and 24.72 in the 50 (Indianapolis). In addition, Geer posted numerous sub-54 100’s and sub-25 50’s throughout the whole season.
2018 U.S. National Championships (Irvine, California)
Geer earned a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle (24.79) and 100 freestyle (53.44). She swam a 24.77 in the prelims, the second fastest among the finalists. This earned her spots on both the World Champ team (4×100 free relay) and Pan Am team (50, 100 free).
2018 Pan Pacific Championships (Tokyo, Japan)
On day 2, Geer swam prelims of the 100 free, and ultimately wound up 3rd in the B-final (54.47) at night.
On day 3, she went 2nd on the 4×100 free relay in a time of 53.59 to help the USA women secure a silver in the event.
Move to Alabama
Geer was part of the group of swimmers to follow former Indiana University associate head sprint coach Coley Stickels to the University of Alabama, as he was named the program’s new head coach in April 2019 following Dennis Pursley‘s retirement.
ISL – LA Current
On June 18, 2019, Margo Geer was announced as a member of the LA Current ISL team, headed by GM Lenny Krayzelburg.
2019 World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
In her only event at the world champs, Geer swam on the prelims of the 4×100 free relay, splitting 53.61 to help the USA earn 4th seed. In finals, the relay finished 2nd, garnering Geer a silver medal.
2019 Pan American Games (Lima, Peru)
After swimming just 1 relay at world champs, Geer swam a full schedule at the Pan American Games in Lima. She won gold in the 100 free (54.17) and silver in the 50 free (25.03) individually.
Geer also helped Team USA to gold medals in the 4×100 free relay (anchor, 54.36), 4×100 medley relay (anchor, 53.65), and mixed 4×100 free relay (anchor, 53.09).
Retirement, Transition to ‘Bama Head Coach
In a fairly surprising twist to one of the more surprising stories of the 2020-2021 season, USA National Team member and Alabama-head-coach-to-be Margo Geer announced on February 9, 2021, that she decided to retire from competitive swimming rather than compete that summer at the United States Olympic Trials.
In December 2020, the University of Alabama announced that head coach Colely Stickels was resigning after roughly a year and a half in Tuscaloosa, that associate head coach Ozzie Quevedo would take over as interim head coach, and that Geer, in turn, would become the team’s permanent head coach once she wrapped up her competitive career, “as she is currently training for the 2021 Olympic Games.”
At that point, Geer was serving as a volunteer assistant for Alabama, and training under Stickels as a pro.
-Originally Developed by Elle Meinholz
