Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth name | Wendy Weinberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Baltimore, Maryland | June 27, 1958||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 126 lb (57 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Homewood Aquatics Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team |
University of Virginia University of North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach |
Frank Comfort Homewood Aquatic, UNC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Wendy Weinberg Weil ( née Weinberg; born June 27, 1958) is an American former competition swimmer who was an Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and Maccabiah Games medalist. [1]
At the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel, she won a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle, as well as in the women's 200 m butterfly and the women's 400 m medley. [2] [3] [4] She won a total of four gold medals in the 1973 Maccabiah Games. [5] [6]
In 1975, she established an American record in the 200-meter butterfly, swimming it in 2:18.2 at the West German Bremen Swimfest. [1] That year she also won a gold medal and set a new Pan American Games record in Mexico City in the 800-meter freestyle, winning it in 9:05.47. [1]
In Baltimore, she swam for winning coach Frank Comfort's Homewood AAU Swim Club, and later swam with Comfort at the University of North Carolina. [7]
She swam for the University of Virginia on a swimming scholarship, where she was an All American. [8] [9] [10] [11] She transferred to the University of North Carolina, and earned an MS at UNC Chapel Hill, and a Graduate Certificate in Physical Therapy from Emory University. [11] [8]
One year after graduating from the Friends School of Baltimore, [12] Weinberg represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. She won a bronze medal in the women's 800-meter freestyle for placing third (8:42.60), following East German Petra Thumer (8:37.14), and American teammate Shirley Babashoff (8:37.59). [1] [13]
At the 1977 Maccabiah Games (the "Jewish Olympics") in Israel, Weinberg – who is Jewish [1] [13] [14] [15] – won six gold medals and two silver medals. [16] [17] [18] Among her golds was a win in the 200 m freestyle (in 2:08.96), the 200 m butterfly, the 400 m freestyle, the 800 m freestyle,and a win in the 4×100-meter medley relay team which she was captain of (in 4:10.09). [19] [20] [17] [21] [22] Her silver medals were in the 100 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly. [22] [23] [24]
She is a certified athletic trainer, and has a graduate certificate in physical therapy, which has been her primary career. A broken leg and shoulder injuries during her college years diversified her athletic pursuits to include raquetball, tennis, kayaking, and cycling. [25] [26] She practises as a physical therapist under her married name, Wendy Weil. [27]