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Elisabeth Erlendsdottir, a backstroker out of the Faroe Islands and Bolles School Sharks swimmer, has committed to swim for Georgia Tech in the fall of 2024.
Erlendsdottir was one of two Faroese swimmers to compete at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships (the Faroe Islands are a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark and has its own swimming federation).
She took on the women’s 50 and 200 backstroke events at Worlds. In the 50, she swam to a personal best of 29.94, her first time under the 30-second barrier to place 39th. In the 200, she touched the wall in a time of 2:22.28, placing 36th overall. Her time was a little off her personal best of 2:17.59, which was set at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series stop this past March, a meet where she also set a new PB in the prelims of the 100 back (1:04.62).
Internationally, Erlendsdottir has also competed at the 2021 and 2022 European Juniors Swimming Championships as well as at the 2021 FINA Short Course Worlds in Abu Dhabi.
Erlendsdottir is no stranger to yards swimming, though. Last year, she moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and competed with the Bolles School Sharks. At the Florida High School Athletic Association 1A State Championships last November, Erlendsdottir helped lead the team to the title. Individually, she made the A-final in the 100 back, finishing 7th with a time of 56.88, and she also took 10th in the 100 free with a time of 52.45.
She led off the 200 medley relay with a backstroke split of 25.88, with the relay ultimately finishing second in a time of 1:42.49. Joining her on that relay were Victoria Edgar (29.59), Ella Chan (24.24), and Kate Meyers-Labenz (22.78).
Best SCY Times
- 100 back – 54.90
- 200 back – 1:59.30
- 50 back – 25.60
- 100 free – 52.41
Erlendsdottir still has her senior year to improve in yards as her times are just off of earning a second swim at ACCs. At the 2023 ACC Championship, it took 54.14 to qualify for 24th in the 100 back and 1:58.55 in the 200 back. Erlendsdottir could, however, prove to be an immediate asset in the relays, where her best times in the 50 (25.60) and 100 (54.90) back would be an improvement upon the times swum by freshman Kendal Chunn (25.92 and 55.07). The Yellow Jackets, led by head coach Courtney Shealy Hart ultimately finished 9th out of 12 teams with 388 points.
Erlendsdottir will be joined in Atlanta by Lauren Adams, a rangy freestyler from South Carolina, Samantha Chan, a butterfly from Alabama, and Brazilian sprinter Giovana Medeiros.
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Fantastic pick-up for GT! With great international experience and huge upside, EE will be an instant value add in the pool, classroom and to team culture. Congrats, Elisabeth!
How has coach Courtney been able to keep her job all these years while producing no results? She just hands out full rides to international kids and hopes they don’t regress rather than actually developing domestic talent
I usually don’t comment here, but I have some insight and maybe people reading this article will learn something.
First to answer your question directly, I think you misunderstand that every athletic department is judging every program purely on performance. My experience at Georgia Tech was not that we were not judged purely on raw performance, and I think that explains quite nicely why Courtney has been the head coach since 2009.
Put more bluntly, the people who decide who the swim coach will be at Georgia Tech are at least satisfied with the job she is doing. What else might they be judging her on? I think she’s done an above average job fundraising and endowing scholarships, she stays… Read more »
This might have been true when you were at Georgia Tech, but at this point the mens team is fully funded as well as the women’s teams. This is no longer an excuse for not developing talent.
then again when you look at one west coast academic institution developing talent might be better this way without any bodies left behind….