Abbey Weitzeil is back in the water and refreshed.
After missing the U.S. team for the first time in years, she decided to take the summer off. The two-time Olympian and American record-holder returned to the 2022 FINA World Cup stop in Indianapolis.
“It refreshed me a lot. I haven’t had a summer off in 8-9 years. It wasn’t the way I wanted the summer off, but there is a lot that went into it,” Abbey Weitzeil said. “I got back in the pool in August after taking the summer off. I feel pretty good about where I am at from where I was in August. So I know pretty well where I am headed. It will really help me in the long run. It is a rough start getting back into it after so long, but I feel like I am headed in a great direction.”
The World Cup allowed Weitzeil the chance to swim some of the top athletes in the world in a relatively low-pressure situation.
She thrived, taking the silver medal in the 50 freestyle (23.62), the bronze in the 100 free (51.63) and 50 butterfly (25.32) and fifth in the 50 backstroke (26.38) and was 12th overall in the Indianapolis scoring (47.2).
“I haven’t raced in a while. I took this as a training opportunity to get back into racing,” Abbey Weitzeil said. “I am definitely having fun racing different events. Being able to do some other strokes is super fun for me. Just being behind the blocks, I get to get up and not think, because I never swim (the 50 fly or 50 back).”
After making her second Olympic team, Weitzeil found her passion outside the water, restoring furniture.
“It is what I do in my off time. It is on pause a lot lately because my training has been so hard and I am so tired. But I randomly make a few pieces,” Abbey Weitzeil said. “COVID got me into it. I picked up weird hobbies. I found a piece of furniture that was on the side of the road and I was like, this is kind of cool, I wonder if I could paint it. So I painted it and sold it and here we are.”
Now with her passion out of the water thriving, her passion in the water is back on the prowl.