Rylee Erisman Lowers 15-16 NAG Record, Public School Record at Florida 4A State Meet
During a breakout summer, Rylee Erisman qualified for the Olympic Trials final of the 50 freestyle as well as two other semifinals, and then she earned five gold medals and one silver at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra, Australia. She has carried that momentum into her sophomore year of high school, and her performance at the Florida 4A High School State Championships entered her into the record books.
Competing for Windermere High School this weekend in Ocala, Fla., Erisman won the 50 free in 21.61, knocking four hundredths off the National High School Public School record held by Abbey Weitzeil since 2015. She was just two hundredths off the overall record, the 21.59 set by Gretchen Walsh in 2020. Erisman obliterated her previous best time of 22.42.
Minutes later, Erisman returned to the pool to swim the 100 free, which she won in 47.14. While she finished marginally behind the high school records (Walsh’s overall record of 46.98 and Weitzeil’s public school record of 47.09, she did break the 15-16 National Age Group record of 47.23 set by Claire Curzan in 2020. Once again, Erisman crushed her previous top mark, which had stood at 48.32 since late last year.
In relay action, Erisman anchored Windermere’s 200 medley relay to a runnerup finish with a split of 21.37, and she brought home her team’s victorious 400 free relay in 48.56.
She is still many years away from swimming on the collegiate level, but Erisman is already quick enough in the sprint events to make noise on the national level. Her 50 free time would have placed sixth at last year’s NCAA Championships while her 100 time would have been good enough for fifth.