Somewhere in Michael Weiss’ childhood home in Reno, Nevada, is a child-size kickboard and a pull buoy, worn and faded from both age and wear and tear. A set of hastily drawn Olympic rings adorns the pull buoy, sparking Weiss’ mother to snap a picture to send to her now 25-year-old son, who is less than a week away from being so close to his Olympic dream that he can taste it.
Weiss is perhaps one of the most decorated swimmers in Wisconsin history, owning four school records by the time he graduated in 2013, with one still standing. He earned all-American honors three times as a Badger, as well as a Big Ten title in the 400-yard individual medley as a senior.
After making the decision to turn professional after graduation, Weiss has been a standby on the U.S. National Team. As a pro, Weiss has proved he is no slouch, posting the seventh-fastest time ever by an American swimmer in the 400-meter individual medley, the most grueling event in the sport. Since graduation, Weiss has racked up eight medals in international competition.
Weiss knows that swimming is just as much a mental game as it is physical, and he has little doubt that he can get the biggest job of his life done in Omaha this week at the Olympic Trials.
"It's something that you mentally prepare for every day when you're at practice,” he said. "You train hard and that kind of gives you the confidence to know that you're capable of doing what you set out to do.”
Qualifying in six events and likely swimming in five, Weiss has a strategy to figure out what he will be swimming in Omaha.
“I’m an IMer, so I swim a lot of different events throughout the year and through the season,” Weiss explained. “I kind of looked at the events and saw how I was ranked compared to [other U.S. swimmers] and saw what my best chances would be, then I decided to swim those events.”
Weiss’ two best chances at achieving his Olympic dream come in the 400-meter IM and the 200-meter freestyle, where he is ranked in the top 10 men in the country. With Michael Phelps likely focusing on the butterfly and Weiss ranked above him in the 200-meter freestyle, it’s anyone’s guess who will make the team. Weiss is once again in the mix, after being very close to making the team following a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter IM in 2012.
“I went to 2012 Olympic Trials and I got some experience, which is great,” Weiss said. “I can use that experience. I’ve been to that pool. I’ve been there, I’ve done it. It’s definitely a nervous time leading up to it, but it’s an excitement nervous, it’s a good nervous.”
Wisconsin head coach Whitney Hite, with whom Weiss has been training since 2011, has no doubt in his mind that he is ready.
“[Weiss does] a great job of rising up to the occasion when the lights are brightest,” Hite said.
Weiss agrees. “I think my odds are really good. They’re pretty high, I’ve done what I’ve needed to do in the past and set myself up for a successful summer, so I’m excited,” he said.
With six Olympic team spots up for grabs in the 200-meter freestyle and two on the line in the 400-meter IM, Weiss will have his work cut out for him in the coming week. Fourteen years after scribbling those Olympic rings onto his pull buoy, Weiss is almost there.
Olympic Trials start on Sunday, June 26, and run until Sunday, July 3. Weiss’ first event, the 400-meter IM, has its preliminaries on June 26, and he will race in at least three other events throughout the week. The Daily Cardinal will have full recaps of the Olympic Trials and will also share live results on Twitter from the evening sessions.
