When Franziska Weidner hit “send” on her e-mail to Victor Wales, she didn’t hold out much hope of hearing back from the University of Hawaii swimming coach.
A high school swimmer in Germany, Weidner found herself drawn to the Rainbow Wahine program while researching opportunities to study in the U.S. To her surprise, she found a reply in her inbox and Weidner informed Wales she’d be training with her club team in Flagstaff, Ariz., in October 2013.
So after a UH meet in San Diego, Wales made the day-long drive into the mountains and showed up at Northern Arizona University’s natatorium in shorts and slippers.
“It snowed in Flagstaff,” Wales recalled. “It was windy and cold, I was freezing. But it was worth it.”
Profile: Franziska Weidner
>> Sport: Swimming
>> Class: Sophomore
>> Major: Kinesiology
>> Hometown: Nurenberg, Germany
>> Previous school: Gymnasium Stein High School
>> Quick facts: Broke the UH record in the 200 individual medley at the MPSF championships. The previous record of 1:58.90 was set by Nicole Mackey in 2005. … Also broke the meet record in the 200 free set by UH’s Jasmine Alkhaldi last year. “The records she broke, they’re legit. They’re two girls who were world class swimmers,” UH coach Victor Wales said.
A year later Weidner was in the warmth of Manoa and contributed to the Rainbow Wahine program’s first conference title. Now a sophomore, she collected six trophies — highlighted by four golds — in last week’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships.
“I didn’t expect him to e-mail me back at all because I thought that was out of my range,” Weidner said. “But I got super lucky.”
Weidner’s performances since first reporting to Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex have had little to do with luck.
As a freshman, she claimed a bronze and swam on three winning relay teams in UH’s run to the MPSF title.
Another year of grinding through nine practices per week, including 6 a.m. sessions Monday through Friday, netted Weidner a hefty medal collection and two meet records last week.
She opened the MPSF championships in Monterey Park, Calif., last Wednesday by swimming the anchor leg on UH’s winning 800-yard freestyle relay team that included Kira Webster, Silvjia Djelic and Cherelle Oestringer.
Weidner went on to set meet records in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 57.93 seconds and the 200 free (1:46.23). She capped her week with a win in the 100 free (49.31) on Saturday.
She also won a silver with the 200 free relay and bronze in the 400 medley relay. UH finished second behind UC Davis in the team standings.
Weidner asked Wales for a chance to swim the 200 IM late in her freshman season and claimed a bronze at the MPSF meet. She dropped her time by a remarkable four seconds in this year’s meet and made a comparable improvement in winning the 200 free in record time.
“It’s a lot of dedication, it’s a lot of faith in what you’re doing within the program as an athlete,” Wales said. “Showing up for weights when you’re dead tired, making every morning practice. … To not miss a practice for a year, that’s pretty dedicated.”
Weidner called her victory in the 100 free the “unexpected one” since she entered the meet seeded seventh and didn’t compete in the event last year. But “I just had a really good weekend,” she said. “If you’re in the flow you just keep it going.”
After returning to campus, Weidner treated herself to a rare morning of sleeping in on Monday, but was back in the pool in the dark of morning on Tuesday. Her times put her “on the bubble” for the NCAA championships and she’s staying ready in case she’s invited to the meet set for March 16-19 at Georgia Tech.
“That would be so exciting if I make that,” Weidner said. “But we can’t do anything so we just have to wait and see how the last conferences are doing.”
