Anna Elendt is a German Olympian and World Championship medalist in the breaststroke events. She holds German records in the 50 and 100 breast in both courses as well as the 200 breast in long course. In the NCAA, she represents the University of Texas where she has numerous All-American honors.
Junior Swimming
Elendt first appeared on the international swimming stage when she was nominated to represent Germany at the 2018 LEN European Junior Swimming Championships in Helsinki. After her nomination but before her European Juniors, she won a German Junior National title representing her club DSW 1912 Darmstadt. At European Juniors, she reaped silver in the 50 breast (31.36) and bronze in the 100 breast (1:08.68). Later in the year at the 2018 International German Swimming Championships, Elendt won a tight race in the 50 breast (31.47) and placed second in the 200 breast (2:29.72).
In early 2019 Elendt placed on breast podiums at popular European meets such as the Euro Meet Luxembourg, the Bergen Swim Festival, and the Swim Open Stockholm. Following the world championships in July 2019, she won the 50 breast (30.93) and 100 breast (1:08.06), at the 2019 German Swimming Championships in Berlin. The 100 was a German Age Record and both were personal bests. She continued her season with podium finishes at the FINA World Cup Series (LCM) in Berlin in October, taking first in the 50 and second in the 100 breast. She won the 50 breast (30.52) and swam to second in the 100 breast (1:06.36) at the 2019 German Short Course National Championships in Berlin. Both Swims were German Age Records and qualified her for the 2019 SC Euros in Glasgow, Scotland.
College (Texas)
Elendt committed to the University of Texas in the fall of 2019 for the class of 2024. She joined a loaded class that included #4 recruit Olivia Bray, #9 recruit and future NCAA Champion Emma Sticklen, and Grace Cooper.
2020-2021
After a long racing break Elendt scored a win with NCAA “B” cut standard in the 100 breast (1:00.30) and another win in the 200 breasts (2:14.30) in her very first SCY meet at The Dust Off You Boots Invitational.
At the 2020 Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite in December, Elendt blazed to a 57.83 breast split before clocking a 58.06 and 2:06.04 in her 100 and 200 breast respectively. Both swims were “A” cuts.
Elendt kicked off the 2021 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships with a 26.26 50 breast relay split as a part of a new Big 12 200 Medley Relay Record. She kept up the big swims, clocking a 58.45 100 and 2:06.34 200 breast to sweep the breaststroke events in times just off her mid-season best times. She also clocked a 57.80 100 breast split on the 400 medley relay.
At NCAAs Elendt scored 14 points with 12th and 9th place finishes in the 100 (58.93) and 200 (2:06.10) breast respectively and was a part of both Texas All-American medley relays. The Texas team placed 3rd overall.
2021-2022
Elendt raced to a 59.33/2:10.12 100/200 breast unsuited in a dual against defending national champions Virginia; this earned her Big 12 Swimmer of the Week.
Elendt popped in a big way on the first night of the Minnesota Invite with a 26.04 50 breast relay split. She followed that up with a Texas record in the 100 breast (57.90), another win in the 200 breast (2:06.21), and a 57.65 100 breast relay split.
She continued her record-setting season with NC State pool records in the 100 (59.25) and 200 (2:08.13) breast in the NC State vs. Texas dual meet. Pool records fell again at the hands of Elendt when Texas visited UNC. She dropped a 58.08 100 breast with no 200 breast on the race schedule.
At the Sterkel Classic against Rice, Elendt smashed her previous lifetime best by nearly a second and a half. Her 2:04.69 school record put Elendt as the 10th fasted performer ever and cracked Laura Sogar’s 2012 school record.
Elendt opened the Big 12 Championships it a massive 25.73 50 breast split on the part of the conference record cracking the 200 medley relay and making her the 4th fastest 50 breast relay performer. Her relay magic kept going with a 56.42 100 breast relay split which was the fastest non-Lily King split. Similar to the 200 medley relay, the 400 medley relay broke the Big 12 Conference record. Another Conference record was struck down by Elendt with a 57.37 100 breast. Breaking the decade-old Beeja Larson record, Elendt slotted herself in the all-time performer list at #7 all-time. Elendt made it four for four with Big 12 records in a time of 2:03.92 in the 200 breast and putting her as the #8 performer in history.
Heading into NCAAs, Elendt was pegged for 3rd in both breaststrokes. Elendt got off to a strong start with a 25.78 50 breast relay split, contributing to the Texas 5th place finish in the 200 medley relay. She seemed to be living up to the hype when she led the 100 breast prelims in a phenomenal 56.88 but fell to 5th in the final (57.24). Elendt faltered again on day three finals with a 57.42 100 breast relay split but still helped Texas place 4th in the 400 medley relay. Elendt was back with a vengeance the next day, taking the second seed behind Kate Douglass in the 200 breast before maintaining seed in finals to place second behind Douglass’ NCAA Record of 2:02.19 with a 2:04.31. Her 31 points contributed to the Texas 2nd place finish.
2022-2023
Elendt again kicked off her season at the Dust Off Your Boots Invitational. Elendt swept the breaststroke events winning the 50 in a 27.17 and the 200 in a 2:11.21. Her 200 was exactly a second faster than she was in October a year ago as she swam a 2:12.21 in October 2021. Elendt also split a 58.44 100 breast on the winning 400 medley relay. The wins kept rolling for Elendt in a triple meet against Indiana and Texas A&M. Elendt come out on top in a battle against her freshman teammate and Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby, winning 59.26 to 59.93.
At the highly anticipated Texas vs. Virginia featuring the #1 and #2 women’s teams in the NCAA, Elendt shined. She kicked off the two-day meet with a 26.34 50 breast split on Texas “A” 200 medley relay, out-splitting Alex Walsh’s 26.84. Elendt again topped Walsh with a 58.14 to Walsh’s 58.95 and Lydia Jacoby’s 58.96.
The fast times kept rolling for Elendt when she edged her teammate Jacoby 57.48 to Jacoby’s 57.54 with a new season best and the fastest 100 breast of her career outside of championships at the Minnesota Invite.
At the Texas Vs. NC State Dual Meet, Elendt supposedly clocked one of the fastest 50 breast splits on the women’s 200 medley relay with a 24.57 to help the Texas team break their school record. The swim had some questions about the accuracy of the timing but at a minimum, the split appeared to be more in the range of 25-point. She also clocked a respectable 57.54 100 breast and 2:07.83 200 breast but finished behind her teammate Jacoby in both.
Elendt kicked off her championship season at the Big 12 Conference Championships. She finished 2nd in both the 100 breast (57.59) and 200 breast (2:05.50) behind her fellow Longhorn Lydia Jacoby. Elendt was still able to come away with some wins, having been chosen over Jacoby on both medley relays.
Elendt made her presence known on the first night of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Knoxville Tennessee with a massive, field-leading 25.54 50 breast split on the Texas 3rd place 200 medley relay. The split slotted her in for 3rd on the all-time performer list.
The sparks kept flying when Elendt went head-to-head with defending NCAA champion Kaitlyn Dobler in the prelims of the women’s 100 breast. Dobler got the better of Elendt by .14 seconds, with her 57.35 to Elendt’s 57.49, with the two taking the top two seeds. Elendt fell to third behind her training partner Jacoby (57.03) and Mona McSharry (55.16) in the final despite clocking a new season best of 57.29.
In a more subdued prelims swim, Elendt clocked a 2:06.64 to take the 5th seed heading into the finals of the 200 breast. As expected, Kate Douglass smashed her own NCAA record in the final with a 2:01.29 and just as the previous year, Elendt finished second behind Douglass in 2:03.26 to tie Bethany Galant as the third-fastest performer of all-time behind Douglass and Lilly King (2:02.60).
National/International Swimming
2019 FINA World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
Elendt qualified to represent Germany at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in her signature 50 and 100 breast. There, she placed 7th in the final of the 50 breast (31.06) and placed 24th in the 100 breast (1:08.07). She also swam breast in the 9th place German Women’s 4X100 medley relay.
2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships (multi-site)
Elendt took the win in her signature 100 Breast (1:07.5) over future teammate Lydia Jacoby at the 2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships – San Antonio and across all locations.
2021 German Olympic Trials (Berlin, Germany)
Elendt placed 1st in the 100 breast (1:07.17), just of the 1:07.00 needed to qualify for the Olympics but earning her a spot on the 27-strong Olympic roster thanks to her relay consideration status.
2021 German National Championships (Berlin, Germany)
Elendt blazed a new personal best in the finals of the women’s 100 breast with a time of 1:06.50 to crack her first national record. With this swim she became the first German woman under 1:07.00, smashing a decade-old record set by Sarah Poewe as a result. The record kept rolling for Elendt when she swam a 30.67 to undercut the previous record set by Dorthea Brandt in 2009 and equaled by Kerstin Vogel in 2014 by .10 seconds.
2020 Olympic Games (Tokyo, Japan)
Elendt eked out a semi-finals berth with a 16th-pace finish in the 100 breast prelims (1:06.96). She raced to a 1:06.59 to place a respectable 13th in the semi-final but fall short of the final. She hit 1:06.17 100 breast split on the 11th place women’s 400 medley relay.
2022 TYR Pro Swim Series (San Antonio, Texas)
Elendt clocked a new German 100 Breast record with a 1:05.96 to then rank 2nd in the world in the heats. She followed that up with a 1:05.58 in finals to further drop her German record. The records kept coming in the finals of the 200 breast the next night with a 2:24.63. She was just one of three women named to the German roster for the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
2022 Mare Nostrum Tour (Multi-site)
In Barcelona, Elendt topped the podium in the women’s 100 (1:06.07) after posting a super quick time of 1:05.82 in this women’s 100 breast in prelims. She then cracked her 50 breast German Record at the same stop, slashing over half a second off her old record with a 30.10 to take the win. She hit a 30.26 50 breast and 1:06.40 100 breast the next week in Canet-en-Roussillon, France.
2022 FINA World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Cruising through prelims of the women’s 100 breast with a relaxed 1:06.54, Elendt earned the top spot in the semi-final in 1:05.62. In the slowest 100 breast final since 2005, Elendt took silver in 1:05.98 behind Benedetta Pilato and ahead of Ruta Meilutyte, off her German record from earlier in the year and her semi-final leading time. This medal was something of an introduction, as it was her first medal on the senior international stage. As one of only two women swimming breaststroke on the 400-mixed medley relay, Elendt performed admirably the next day, clocking a 1:05.83 breast split after blazing a 1:05.59 split in prelims.
Concentrating on her better 50 breast, Elendt swam a laid-back 2:30.08 200 breast to miss the semi-finals. Her best 200 breast would have qualified her for the final. In the 50 breast, she neared her personal best in prelims with a 30.12. She followed that up with a 30.30 to sneak through in the 7th slot. She placed 5th in the final with a 30.22.
2022 FINA World Cup (Toronto, Canada)
After clocking a 2:21.33 200 breast the day prior, Elendt clocked a 1:04.54 100 breast (SCM) in prelims that checked in as a new German national record, overtaking the 1:04.78 Caroline Ruhnau put on the books in 2009. Just a few hours later, she wrapped up her meet by placing 3rd in the women’s 100 breaststroke final, swimming a time of 1:04.07 to knock another half second off her record. Elendt was later announced as a member of the 8-strong German contingent going to FINA Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
2022 FINA Short Course World Championships (Melbourne, Australia)
Elendt qualified through the prelims and semifinals of the women’s 100 breast with 1:04.53 and 1:04.46 respectively. She powered through in the final with a new personal best and German Record in 1:04.05 to take bronze. Elendt showed her speed and consistency again through all three rounds of the women’s 50 breast. She clocked 29.59 in prelims, 29.52 in the semis, and 29.30 in the finals to place 5th. Both the semis and finals swims by Elendt broke the German Record in the 50 Breast.
2023 Pro Swim Series (Westmont, Illinois)
After already being preselected for the German World Championship Team, Elendt clocked strong times of 30.68, 1:06.59, and 2:24.74 in the 50, 100, and 200 breast respectively.
–This biography was originally developed by Lucas Caswell
