Sarasota Swimmer Wins Silver Medal At Tokyo Summer Olympics

SARASOTA, FL — A Sarasota swimmer won the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Summer Olympics Sunday.

Emma Weyant, 19, a first-time Olympian, came in second place in the race, which features the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, with a time of 4:32.76, according to the Olympics website.

Japan’s Yui Ohashi, who pulled ahead during the breaststroke leg of the medley, won gold after finishing in 4:32.08 — just .68 seconds before Weyant.

Another American, Hali Flickinger, took home the bronze medal with a time of 4:34:90.

Weyant made it to the race’s finals after winning the third heat Saturday with a time of 4:33:55.

To get to the Olympics this summer, the Sarasota native outswam three former Olympians — Flickinger, Melanie Margalis and Leah Smith — during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska in June. She completed her trial race in 4:33.81.

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Weyant graduated from Riverview High School, where she was a standout swimmer, in 2019.

During her time at Riverview, she was the 2019 U.S. national champion and the 2018 Junior Pan Pac champion in the 400-meter individual medley. She also ranked No. 1 in the world among those 18 and under in the 400-meter individual medley, according to her athletic profile with the University of Virginia.

Weyant was also a four-time Florida High School Athletic Association 4A state champion in the 500-meter freestyle and the 200-meter individual medley races.

She joined the University of Virginia's swim team but deferred her freshman season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She continues to swim with the Sarasota Sharks team, which has been her club since she was 8 years old.

During a news conference in June, which was shared to the YouTube channel SwimSwam, Weyant said training in Sarasota during the pandemic year wound up benefiting her.

“More time to train, get stronger only helps,” she said.

Weyant added, “I was really fortunate to have a really amazing training environment in Sarasota. We got back to work pretty soon after (the COVID-19 shutdown) and it’s been a really good year.”

The Olympic medalist said that when she started swimming, she initially wanted to be a distance swimmer, “which probably isn’t common,” she said. “My coaches really pushed me into (individual medley), which I’m really grateful for and I really like it now. That’s definitely the most fun event for me. The strategy behind it and racing (make it fun.)”