Early life and swimming
Abruzzo was born November 18, 1999, to Joseph Michael and Karen Abruzzo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Fort Washington's Germantown Academy. He swam for the Plymouth Whitemarsh Aquatic Club, where he was coached by accomplished coaches Dick Shoulberg and Caroline Bouland. Shoulberg, a member of the ASCA Hall of Fame, was a highly accomplished coach with Germantown Academy's swim team through 2015, and led the team to National championships in 1985-86, prior to Abruzzo's time there as a swimmer. [1] [2]
Born into an accomplished swimming family, three of Abruzzo's siblings would swim competitively, and his father Joe would coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh. Both Shoulberg and Bouland were awarded the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) 2017 Fitter and Faster Swim Coach of the year for age-group swimming. By his Senior year in High School, Abruzzo was training with a ninety-minute early morning session, and a two hour session after school, followed by strength training at a local gymnasium. [3] [2] [1]
By his High School Senior year, his best times in Long Course (50 meter) events, where he had his more competitive times, were: [1]
- 100 fly: :54.64
- 200 fly: 2:00.27
- 200 back: 2:06.84
- 200 IM: 2:06.30
- 400 IM: 4:23.20
- 200 free: 1:50.93
- 400 free: 3:49.19
- 800 free: 7:54.58
- 1500 free: 15:06.48 [4]
In his High School Senior year, his best times in Short Course Yards events, which were more common in collegiate competition, were:
- 100 fly: :48.59
- 200 fly: 1:46.56
- 200 back: 1:45.51
- 200 IM: 1:50.33
- 400 IM: 3:51.3
- 200 free: 1:38.01
- 500 free: 4:23.52
- 1000 free: 8:56.26
- 1650 free: 15:06.67 [4]
International competition highlights
Junior Pan Pacs
At the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Games in Maui, Hawaii, he placed first in the 400-meter freestyle and finished second in both the 1500 meter freestyle, and the 800-meter freestyle events and placed second in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. [1]
World Jr. Championships
He won three gold medals at the 2017 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships held in Indianapolis, Indiana. He took first in the 400-meter with a 3:49.19, another first in the 800-meter with a 7:54.58, and his third in the 1,500-meter with a 15:06.48, with all three events being his fastest times to date. [3]
2021 Olympic trials
In the June, 2021 Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, he completed the 800 freestyle final, swimming a 8:01.81, and placing eighth, but did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. He finished eighth in the 400-meter freestyle, and finished 23rd in 200-meter butterfly preliminaries, not making the finals. [7] In a high point in his career, he was named to the USA Swimming National Team in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
University of Georgia
Abruzzo enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens from the Fall of 2018 through 2023 where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Finance, and later studied for an MA in Business Analytics. With the Georgia Swim Team, he was managed by accomplished Head Coach Jack Bauerle, a former University of Georgia swimmer, a 2008 Head U.S. Women's Olympic Coach, and a 2020 Paris U.S. Olympic team Assistant Coach. Beginning in 2022, he was coached at Georgia by Head Coach Neal Versfeld, a former Associate Coach. [8] In Abruzzo's Senior year in NCAA National Championship competition in the 2022-2023 season, in the 200 butterfly he finished 29th and in the 500 freestyle finished 39th. In the 2022-3 season, he was 13th in the 500 freestyle, and 19th in the 400 IM at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships, and in his best SEC conference showing that year was eighth in the 200 butterfly. [1]
Honors
In 2020, he was listed among the top twenty boy's swimmers for the Senior High School Class of 2018 as an Honorable Mention by Swimswam Magazine. [4] His Collegiate honors at University of Georgia included:
- J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Honor Roll
- College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Third Team
- College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team
- SEC Academic Honor Roll
- U. of Georgia Presidential Scholar honors for fall semester 2020
- CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team [4] [1]
Utilizing his undergraduate finance degree, Abruzzo has worked as a Treasury Analyst for Ally Financial a bank holding company, in Charlotte, North Carolina where he began around 2023. [4] [1]
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