Abbey Weitzeil Continues 2023 Resurgence With 52.92 100 Free PB

2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 27 – July 1, 2023
• Indianapolis, IN
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50m)
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Coming off a disappointing 2022 that included missing the World Championship team for the first time since 2013, Abbey Weitzeil has come back with a vengeance this year, and that was further punctuated on Tuesday morning in Indianapolis.

Weitzeil blasted her way to a personal best time of 52.92 in the preliminaries of the women’s 100 freestyle, resetting her best time from the Tokyo Olympics of 52.99 to qualify first into tonight’s final.

Split Comparison

Having been a mainstay atop the U.S. women’s sprinting scene for the better part of the last decade, highlighted by placing seventh in the 100 free at the 2016 Olympics and then making the final of both the 50 and 100 free at the Tokyo Games in 2021, Weitzeil had an off performance at the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials.

Placing sixth in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 free, Weitzeil failed to make the U.S. roster for the 2022 World Championships, and not long after, her coach at Cal, Teri McKeever, was put on administrative leave and ultimately fired by the program.

This forced Weitzeil to hit a reset button of sorts, and she’s come out on the other side better than ever.

Since the beginning of 2023, the 26-year-old has absolutely been on fire.

She swept the 50 free at all four stops of the Pro Swim Series, and would’ve done the same in the 100 free had she not scratched out of the final in Knoxville (her prelim time was half a second faster than what ultimately won).

Her season-best times of 24.40 in the 50 free (Fort Lauderdale PSS) and 53.26 in the 100 free (Mission Viejo PSS) were her fastest-ever in-season, and that form has translated over into the U.S. National Championships.

In breaking 53 seconds for the second time and undercutting her PB from 2021 in the 100 free, Weitzeil moves into a tie for third all-time among American swimmers with Torri Huske, and also ranks fifth in the world this season.

Joining the sub-53 club for the first time this morning was Kate Douglass, who clocked 52.98 to rank fifth all-time among Americans and sixth in the world this season.

Douglass took more than a second off her previous best time of 54.14 from the 2021 Olympic Trials.

All-Time U.S. Performers, Women’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Simone Manuel, 52.04 – 2019 World Championships
2. Mallory Comerford, 52.59 – 2017 World Championships
3. Torri Huske / Abbey Weitzeil, 52.92 – 2022 World Championships / 2023 U.S. Nationals
4. –
5. Kate Douglass, 52.98 – 2023 U.S. Nationals

The women’s 100 free field as a whole was far more competitive than it was at last year’s Trials, as six swimmers broke the 54-second barrier compared to just one woman doing so in the 2022 prelims.

Behind Weitzeil and Douglass, Olivia Smoliga fired off a personal best time of 53.31 to qualify third, while Gretchen Walsh (53.64), Huske (53.67) and Catie Deloof (53.91) also went sub-54.

The cut-off for the ‘A’ final was four-tenths quicker compared to Greensboro, with Bella Sims rounding out the top eight in 54.18 after Douglass was the last qualifier one year ago in 54.58.