Abbey Weitzeil’s 2024 Includes Olympics, a Wedding and More Cowbell
Abbey Weitzeil knew 2024 was going to be a year she would never forget. She made sure of it – twice.
She set a September wedding date with fiancé Michael Jensen – late enough for some last-minute planning after the second big event of the year, the Paris Olympics.
“I think this year is huge for me in such amazing ways, and I think planning a wedding has been kind of like a getaway for me. I love that kind of stuff. I love organizing and all of that,” Weitzeil said. “It’s been something fun for me to do, and I’ve had a long time to do it so no stress on that. Preparing for this meet has been throwing everything I have into the pool every day. My 100 isn’t something I was expecting for, wanting, so it did take me a day to reset, take a breath, appreciate what I have done, get myself on the team again and move on to my next race.”
Weitzeil qualified for her third consecutive Olympics, this time as a relay swimmer in the 400 freestyle relay.
“It feels amazing. I’m honored to call myself a two-time Olympian. It’s a dream, and I’ve still got work to do, but I’m beyond words,” Abbey Weitzeil said. “So I think throwing everything I have into this year emotionally, physically, and just riding out the summer for sure, and excited to be part of Team USA again.
“I’ve had such an emotional week watching people from my team, and I swear I was watching finals in the stands one night, and I was crying every race. I was so happy to see everyone make the team, so it’s an emotional ride, and I’m beyond words for myself as well so I’m excited.”
It was an emotional week for Weitzeil, who didn’t make the 100 free individually and was nine hundredths of a second away from making the team in the 50 freestyle, finishing third.
Weitzeil has been a mainstay in the U.S. sprinting faction for more than a decade. She has endured ups and downs at Olympic Trials and beyond, experiences that have helped her for such a stressful meet.
“This is my fourth Trials. My very first Trials in 2012 I’m really young, coming to experience it, and look back to 2016, I was the girl with nothing to lose. I was the newbie out there tying to make her first Olympic Team, and then you go to ’21, and it was a weird year for everyone, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to do what I was expected to do, to do what I had done before, and I came into this Trials with more of that same pressure, more pressure on myself, not from the outside world, put more pressure on myself, expecting the best,” Weitzeil said.
“I think mentally I was ready to go. Physically I was training so well, and I didn’t see it in the pool. I haven’t seen it in the pool yet, so it’s a little frustrating, but finding a real spot in my favorite race. So approaching it as it comes.”
Weitzeil had no hesitation about how to approach the comments Australian Cate Campbell made about the U.S. swimmers, particularly their use of a cowbell in the stands.
“We’re all bringing the cowbell. Whenever comments are made about your country or your jobs, it’s all competitive,” Weitzeil said. “I think we all are competitive, our competitive side comes out, so we’re all bringing the cowbell, extra loud!”
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Read the room. The cowbell is a nuisance. It’s just arrogance to carry on with it. Have some consideration for other nations.
Seeing your point of view made me realize you might be right. We need to be humble but still be proud of our accomplishment. Yes we should be considerate to other nations