Margaret Hoelzer is not just a swimmer on the rise. She’s at the top! At the 2007 World Championships she broke the American Record in the 200m backstroke and won her first World Championship in dramatic fashion. She believes that if you put your mind to it, anything is possible and she has stuck by those words. In 2003, she was the top ranked American in the 200m and after earning silver in the 200m backstroke at the 2005 World Championships, Hoelzer broke through for her first gold in the event at the 2007 World Championships where she dropped nearly two seconds off her best time. In 2008, Margaret swam for the US Olympic team in three events. She took the bronze in the 100m back, and two silvers in the 200m back and 4x100 medley relay.
When she’s not swimming, Margaret enjoys sharing her Olympic spirit and experience with young swimmers and Olympic Hopefuls all around the country by teaching youth swim clinics and speaking to local communities. After earning her degree in psychology with a minor in criminology, Margaret is pursuing a graduate degree in sociology at Auburn. Outside of her swimming career, she says she would like to be a psychologist and help children who have been abused, or study the criminals who abuse them, such as sex offenders.