Allison Schmitt

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Allison Schmitt
Personal information
Full name Allison Rodgers Schmitt
Nickname(s) "Schmitty", "Al", "Allie"
National team  United States
Born (1990-06-07) June 7, 1990 (age 33)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Weight 163 lb (74 kg)[1]
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
Club Plymouth Canton Cruisers North Baltimore Aquatic Club
College team University of Georgia

Allison Rodgers Schmitt (born June 7, 1990) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist.

In her Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Schmitt won a bronze medal as a member of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Four years later, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won a total of five medals, three of them gold, in the 200-meter freestyle (in which she set a new Olympic record),[2] in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and in the 4×100-meter medley relay (in which a new world record was set);[3] and she also won a silver medal in the 400 meter freestyle, and a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 meter freestyle relay.

In total, Schmitt has won seventeen medals in major international competitions: eleven gold, four silver, and two bronze spanning the Summer Olympics, the FINA World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Pan American Games. She was a four-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national champion in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle swimming events during college, and was a member of the Georgia Bulldogs team that won the NCAA Division I Women's team title in 2013.

Personal life

Schmitt was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1990 to Ralph and Gail Schmitt. Raised as one of five siblings in what is still her hometown of Canton, Michigan, Schmitt's father is a financial analyst and her mother is a system project manager. Schmitt considers her parents have been the most influential and helpful people in her life. "They are so supportive of my dreams and ambitions," she said in 2008, adding, "they have given me so many opportunities to excel in life and have set a good example for me to follow."[4]

She has an older sister named Kirsten who earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, and her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri.[5] Her older brother, Derek, swam for the University of Pittsburgh,[6] and is now an assistant coach for the Plymouth-Canton Cruisers swim team in Plymouth, Michigan.[7] Schmitt's younger twin sisters, Kari and Sara, played in the USA Hockey national championship games in 2008 and 2009,[8] lettered in varsity both basketball and swimming during their four years in high school,[9] and now play hockey at Ohio State University.[10]

She started swimming at age nine, saying she followed her older sister, Kirsten, into it. "I thought about quitting," Schmitt said, "but stayed one more season and loved it." Prior to settling on swimming, she said she tried soccer, dance, basketball, volleyball, softball; and though she said she had the equipment for hockey, she decided to swim instead.[5]

From ages 11 through 14, Schmitt swam with the Ann Arbor Swim Club (AASC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan (which, in 2006, merged into Club Wolverine).[11] In an interview during the 2012 Summer Olympics, Josh Morgan, her then-AASC coach, said there was no indication in those years just how fast she would one day become. He said she started to show real potential, later, in the spring of her junior year in high school when she went to a 2007 Junior National Team competition. Calling it "her first real breakout swim," he said she went "from pretty fast to really fast," dropping four to five seconds off her 200-meter freestyle short course time of normally around a minute fifty-two seconds, down to around a minute forty-seven, thereby putting Schmitt in what Morgan called "elite company."[12]

Schmitt went to Canton High School in Canton Township, Michigan, from which she graduated in the spring of 2008. During her senior year, as she continued to swim at what had, by then, become Club Wolverine on the University of Michigan campus in nearby Ann Arbor, she began training alongside Olympian Michael Phelps under the guidance of Phelps's long-time coach, Michigan Wolverines head coach Bob Bowman.[13] Before the Summer Olympics in Beijing, having ended his tenure at University of Michigan, Bowman moved to Baltimore in anticipation of being named the head coach and CEO of the prestigious North Baltimore Aquatic Club the following September.[14] Both Phelps and Schmitt followed, with Schmitt moving to Baltimore[15] just after her spring 2008 high school graduation in order to train full-time with Phelps and Bowman during the weeks leading-up to the 2008 Olympics (at which Schmitt won her first Olympic medal, a bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay).[2]

After the Summer Olympics, in the fall of 2008, Schmitt moved to Athens to become a freshman at the University of Georgia, majoring in psychology, and minoring in childhood and family development.[16] She joined coach Jack Bauerle's Georgia Bulldogs swimming and diving team, after she had just swum in the Summer Olympics under Bauerle in his capacity as the games' women's swimming head coach.[17] She participated in NCAA competition during her freshman, sophomore and junior years,[18] ultimately becoming a four-time NCAA national champion by winning the 500-yard freestyle in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and the 200-yard freestyle in 2010.[19] While at college in Athens, Schmitt also became involved in Athens Bulldog Swim Club (ABSC) competitions[20] on the University of Georgia campus.[21]

During her first three years at the university, she trained with Phelps and Bowman in Baltimore only during summers, between semesters.[2] However, in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she took the 2011–2012 school year (her senior year) off, and so did not compete with the Bulldogs that year; and, instead, she moved to Baltimore and trained full-time with Bowman and Phelps at the NBAC;[22] which training consisted of at least four hours in the pool and one hour on dry land, every day, six days a week.[16]

After the 2012 Summer Olympics, Schmitt returned to the University of Georgia to complete her senior year of college,[22] She was the recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of 2012–13.[23] Following her return from London, Schmitt started suffering from depression, finding the increased public attention to be overwhelming. Her anguish led to bad swimming results, leading her to not qualify for various international competitions. After opening up her feelings to Phelps and Bowman in January 2015, Schmitt decided to attend therapy sessions in secret to her family. Once Schmitt's cousin April Bocian committed suicide in May, she opted to reveal herself to her family and also make her emotional issues public, feeling it would help others in the same situation. She has since been training under Bowman at Arizona State University, hoping to get in shape for a possible third Olympic appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[24][25]

Schmitt wrote on the bio form for her USA Swimming organization membership that she enjoys scrapbooking, photography, playing outdoor games and board games; and that her ultimate way to relax is watching a movie or getting a massage.[5] Whenever she returns home to Canton she likes to visit the local youth swim clubs and high school swim teams, both swimming and talking with the young swimmers, and encouraging them as a role model and mentor.[12] "I love motivating these kids when they’re just starting to pave their own paths in life," she said.[16]

About it all, Schmitt has said: "I didn't start swimming competitively until I was 10 and didn't really focus on it until I was 12, yet it's such a huge part of my life and I can't imagine my life without it. It's been an amazing journey, but more than that, it's shaped who I am as a person. The best part is all the friends I have made. I believe that I literally have the best friends anyone could ever imagine hoping for, and I met almost all of them because of swimming. Taking in all the memories with these amazing people, I feel pretty lucky with the paths I have crossed, and the people I have met because of swimming."[15]

International swimming career

2008 Summer Olympic Games

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See also: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Schmitt won a bronze medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle and Katie Hoff. Swimming the lead-off leg, Schmitt recorded a split time of 1:57.71 and the American team finished with a time of 7:46.33, an American record. Schmitt also competed in the 200-meter freestyle, but did not advance past the semifinals, finishing in ninth place with a time of 1:58.01.

2009 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Schmitt competed in three events, the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle, and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. In her first event, the 400-meter freestyle, Schmitt recorded the second best time in the heats with a time of 4:02.80.[26] However, in the final she placed 4th with a time of 4:02.51.[27] In her second event, the 200-meter freestyle, she won a silver medal finishing behind world record holder Federica Pellegrini by 1.98 seconds. Schmitt's time of 1:54.96 was good enough for the American record.[28] In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, she swam the final leg in 1:54.21 as the American team placed second to China. The final time of 7:42.56 was just behind China's time of 7:42.08, but was good enough for the American record.[29]

2011 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Schmitt won a gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Missy Franklin, Dagny Knutson, and Katie Hoff, with the team finishing ahead of Australia and China. As the anchor leg, Schmitt had a 1:56.49 split. Schmitt also competed in the individual 200-meter freestyle and finished sixth in the final (1:56.98).

2012 Summer Olympic Games

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See also: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Schmitt holds up her silver medal at the 400m freestyle, alongside fellow medalists Camille Muffat and Rebecca Adlington.

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S. qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics, Schmitt made the U.S. Olympic team by finishing first in the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle, and third in the 100-meter freestyle.[30][31][32] In the 200-meter freestyle final, Schmitt broke her own American record of 1:54.96 with a time of 1:54.40.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Schmitt won a total of five medals: three gold, one silver, and one bronze. In her first event, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Schmitt won bronze with Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy and Lia Neal, with the U.S. team finishing third behind the women's relay teams from Australia and the Netherlands. Swimming the anchor leg, Schmitt had a split of 53.54 seconds and the team finished with a total time of 3:34.24, an American record. Schmitt won the first individual Olympic medal of her career, a silver, in the 400-meter freestyle, and in doing so, set the American record for the event. Her time of 4:01.77 was just 0.32 seconds behind winner Camille Muffat. In her second and last individual event, the 200-meter freestyle, Schmitt won gold while setting a new Olympic record of 1:53.61, which was also a new American record. In the race, Schmitt won by a margin of 1.97 seconds over Muffat. In the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, Schmitt earned her second gold after passing Australian Alicia Coutts and topping the field with a split of 1:54.09 as the anchor leg. Also on the winning 4×200-meter relay team were Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer and Shannon Vreeland. In her final event, the 4×100-meter medley relay, Schmitt won gold with Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni, and Dana Vollmer. Swimming the freestyle leg, Schmitt recorded a time of 53.25, and the American team went on to set the world record with a time of 3:52.05, bettering the Chinese-owned record of 3:52.19 set in 2009.

2015 Pan American Games

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See also: Swimming at the 2015 Pan American Games

After missing both the 2013 World Aquatics Championships and the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Schmitt's performance at the 2014 National Championships was enough for the 2015 Pan American Games. The Pan Am Games in Toronto marked her first international tournament since the 2012 Short-Course World Championship.[33] Schmitt earned the gold in the 200-meter freestyle, and was a member of the teams who won the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays, all with competition records. She also earned a silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[34][35][36]

Personal bests

As of July 31, 2012.
Long course
Event Time Meet Date Note(s)
200 m freestyle 1:53.61 2012 Summer Olympics July 31, 2012 AM, NR
400 m freestyle 4:01.77 2012 Summer Olympics July 29, 2012

See also

References

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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ GeorgiaDogs.com, Swimming & Diving, Allison Schmitt. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  19. ↑ "NCAA Division I Women's Championships: Allison Schmitt Threepeats in 500 Free," Swimming World Magazine (March 17, 2011). Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Kristin Leigh Porter, "Schmitt looking for return to Olympics," NCAA.com (June 26, 2012). Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  23. ↑ Collegiate Women Sports Awards, Past Honda Sports Award Winners for Swimming & Diving. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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