Margaret Hoelzer

Class: Position: Senior , Butterfly

Hometown: Birthdate: Huntsville 03/30/1983

High School: Huntsville

Margaret Hoelzer has been a stand-out American female backstroker since 2004. She is a two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist, scoring two silvers and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She also garnered widespread media attention after announcing that she was sexually abused as a child. She has been speaking against child abuse and hopes her story will give strength to others.

Queen of the Backstroke

Hoelzer qualified for her first Olympics in 2004, placing first at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200m backstroke. But in Athens, she failed to win a medal, finishing fifth overall. Since ’04, Hoelzer has been eyeing an individual gold medal. In 2007, Hoelzer had a major breakthrough in the 200m event, winning the world title in Melbourne. Then, in 2008, Hoelzer set herself up for a successful bid at the Beijing Olympics. She placed first in the 200m distance at Olympic Trials and set a world record at the time. She also qualified in the 100m back, allowing her to swim the medley relay in Beijing.

Former Roommates Go 1-2

With a world record under her belt, Hoelzer headed toward Beijing with all the confidence in the world. Her confidence paid off. For the first time, Hoelzer found herself on an Olympic medal podium, scoring a bronze medal in the 100m and gaining an individual silver medal in the 200m. In the 200m, she lost the gold – and her world record – to her former Auburn teammate and roommate of Zimbabwe.

A Courageous Announcement

In September of 2008, Hoelzer announced that she had been sexually abused as a child. Her public announcement one month after the Beijing Olympics garnered her widespread admiration for her courage. Hoelzer says she wants to prevent the same thing happening to other young children. She has since linked with the National Children’s Advocacy Center and hopes to one day become more involved in the fight against child abuse.

Moving Forward

After the successful Beijing campaign, Hoelzer is back in the water and eyeing reclaiming her world record in the 200m backstroke. At the 2009 National Championships, Hoelzer just missed a spot at Worlds finishing third in both the 100m backstroke and the 200m backstroke. She has since relocated to Fullerton, California to continue training under Sean Hutchinson. She joins and among others as they gear up for 2012.

2003-04: Fifth-place finisher in the 200-meter backstroke at the XXVIIIOlympics in Athens, Greece with a time of 2:10.70 ... Is ranked in the SCM World Rankings in the 100 back (4th - 58.54), 200 back (4th -2:05.47), 200 free (10th - 1:56.16), 100 fly (24th - 59.07) and 200 fly (24th - 59.07) ... Qualified for the Olympics by winning the 200-meter backstroke at the USA Olympic Team Trials with a time of 2:11.88, the sixth-fastest time in the world heading into the Olympics ... Was also a finalist in the 100 back, clocking a 1:03.13 in the finals to finish eighth ... Semi-finalist in the 200 free at Olympic Trials, finishing 14th (2:02.37) ... Also swam the 100 fly (1:01.80) at Trials ... NCAA Champion in the 200 freestyle with a NCAA record 1:56.16 ... Runner-up in the 200 backstroke to teammate Kirsty Coventry with a time of 2:05.55 ... Placed second in the 100 backstroke (58.54) ... Her 54 individual points tied her with Coventry for third- most at NCAAs ... Swam the fly leg (25.67) of the NCAA Champion 200 medley relay that set an NCAA and US Open Record (1:49.02) for the second consecutive season ... Swam the second leg (53.57) of the runner-up 400 freestyle relay, as well as the anchor leg (1:57.99) of the fourth-place 800 freestyle relay at NCAAs ... SEC Champion in both the 100 back (52.54) and the 200 free (1:45.26) ... Swam the second leg of the SEC Champion 400 free relay that set theconference record at 3:14.70 with a split of 48.25 ... Led off the conference champion 800 free relay with a split of 1:44.94, the second straight year AU has won that event at the conference meet ... Runner-up in the 100 butterfly (52.52) ... Also swam the backstroke leg for the 200 medley relay with a split of 25.10 and the fly leg for the 400 medley relay with a split of 51.77, both of which finished second.

2002-03: Is ranked No. 2 in the 200m back (2:09.24), No. 30 in the 100m back (1:02.53) and No. 49 in the 50m back (29.73) in the World ... Silver medalist in the 200m backstroke in a time of 2:09.24 at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain ... Also swam the 50m back (29.73) ... Won the 200m back at the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in a time of 2:10.88 ... Also swam the 100m back at the Duel in the Pool, placing third (1:02.53) ... Was the ninth high-point scorer at NCAAs with 45 points ... Swam the fly leg (51.73) of the NCAA Champion and NCAA and US Open record setting 400 medley relay (3:31.45) ... Set the school record in the 100 back (52.62) as the leadoff leg to the 400 medley relay in the prelims ... Swam the fly leg (22.98) of the NCAA Champion 200 medley relay which set the NCAA, American and US Open record (1:36.69) ... Led off the NCAA Champion 800 free relay (7:02.72) with a split of 1:45.37 ... Was the bronze medalist in the 100 fly (52.03) at NCAAs ... Also placed third in the 200 back (1:53.18) at NCAAs ... Sixth in the 200 fly (1:57.23) with a prelims time of 1:57.08 ... SEC Champion in the 200 back with a time of 1:52.83, breaking the conference record by 2.44 seconds ... Swam the leadoff leg of the 800 free relay team that set the SEC, NCAA and US Open record at the SEC Championships (7:01.00) with a split of 1:46.02 ... Swam the fly leg for the SEC Champion 400 medley relay team (3:34.86) in a time of 52.30 ... Finished second in the 100 fly (52.53) at SECs ... Time of 52.53 in the finals was .67 seconds faster than the previous SEC record ... Runner-up in the 200 fly (1:57.27) ... Was the fifth highest scorer at SECs with 54 points ... Named SEC Female Athlete of the Week following the Alabama duel meet ... Named to the Knoxville News Sentinel's All-SEC First Team for the backstroke and the second team for the fly ... Named to the Verizon Academic All-District IV third team ...

2001-02: Gold medalist in the 200m back (2:11.00) at the Pan Pacific Championships...Also semi- finaled in the 200m fly (2:11.41) and the 100m fly (1:00.67) at the Pan Pacific Games ... Competed at the 2002 Summer Nationals, placing third in the 200 back, sixth in the 100 fly and seventh in the 200 fly and 100 back ... Placed fourth in the 100 fly (52.76) and 200 back (1:54.54) and fifth in the 200 fly (1:56.74) at NCAAs ... Scored the 10th- highest points at NCAAs ... SEC Freshman of the Year ... Became the SEC champion in the 200 back with a school record time of 1:55.35 ... Finished third in the 100 back (55.14) and earned fourth in the 200 fly (1:59.88) at the SEC Championships ... Earned an impressive third-place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:14.25) at 2001 Summer US Nationals ... Also placed seventh in the 200 fly (2:15.27) at US Nationals, 11th in the 100 back (1:04.43) and 20th in the 100 fly (1:02.83) ... Finished 15th at the Spring US Nationals meet in the 100m butterfly and earned a then career-best time of 1:01.85 in prelims ... Placed 22nd in the 100 back at US Nationals ... High School: Huntsville, `01 ... Eight-time state champion ... Held three records in the state of Alabama coming out of high school ... Olympic Trials qualifier in the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 100 butterfly ... Member of the National Junior team in 1998 ... Placed third in 200 back at the Brazil World Cup in 1998 ... USA Scholastic All-American in 1999 ... Member of "Who's Who in American High Schools" ...

Personal: Full name is Margaret Josephine Hoelzer ... Daughter of Elizabeth Warren Hoelzer ... Born March 30, 1983 ... Has a sister, Martha, who ran track for both Alabama and North Carolina.