The latest swimmer to entering the revolving door of competitive swimming is American backstroker Margaret Hoelzer, who has announced just a few months shy of turning 28 that she is hanging up her cap-and-goggles.
Hoelzer briefly held the 200 backstroke World Record in 2008, and among her many swimming accomplishments were 3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: a silver in the 200 back, a silver in the 400 medley relay, and a bronze in the 100 back. She currently lives in Seattle, and had been training with the King Aquatic Club while working towards a masters degree from her alma mater Auburn.
But Hoelzer’s contributions to our sport, and our world, have been much greater than her exploits in the pool. Rather, she has used those successes to attack a much greater issue that plagues the swimming community: sexual abuse. Since her announcement in 2009 that she was sexually abused as a child by the father of a friend, it’s been clear that her focus has been on much more important things than winning medals. Though the man was never prosecuted, that has not stopped Hoelzer from crusading across the country to encourage young people to speak up and report their abusers, rather than wait until it’s too late.
Hoelzer now serves as the national spokesperson for the National Children’s Advocacy Center, a group that supports both public awareness and child-abuse professionals across the country. Hoelzer told her hometown Hunstville (AL) Times newspaper that “I’m content with the decision. I got to the point where I finally realized I didn’t have to prove anything.”
This is the second American backstroking superstar who’s retirement has become public in the last week, along with former National Team teammate Aaron Peirsol. But while the swimming world will feel a huge void with the loss of Mr. Peirsol, I’ll with the greatest respect and admiration make the argument that the entire world is a better place with Ms. Hoelzer ‘s retirement, as she is now able to focus her full energy on a much more important calling.