Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Rhyan Elizabeth White | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Herriman, Utah, United States [1] | January 25, 2000||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Backstroke, butterfly, individual medley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of Alabama | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rhyan Elizabeth White (born January 25, 2000) is an American swimmer. [2] She won a silver medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics for her contribution in the prelims of the event and placed fourth in both the 100-meter backstroke and the 200-meter backstroke. [3] At the 2020 Olympics, White also became the first Utah-born swimmer to compete in an Olympic Games. [4] [5] At the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, she was the only swimmer representing the United States to win a medal. [6] She won her first world title in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. [7]
White was born and raised in Herriman, Utah. [1] [8] [9] While attending Cottonwood High School in Murray, Utah, she swam for her high school swim team, winning UHSAA state swimming championships titles in the 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke, and 200-yard individual medley. [10] She graduated from Academy for Math, Engineering, and Science, which is physically contained within Cottonwood High School. [2] [5]
White committed to competing collegiately for the University of Alabama in 2017 and started swimming for the school in the autumn of 2018. [10] She currently attends and swims for the University of Alabama, where she is majoring in psychology. [2]
At the 2016 US Olympic trials in swimming, White competed in two events. She finished in 18th place overall in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:12.36, and 61st overall with a time of 1:02.82 in the 100-meter backstroke. [11]
White was the only American swimmer to win a medal of any type, gold, silver, or bronze, at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, winning the bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:00.60. [6] With the one bronze medal White won, the United States tied with Egypt, Spain, and South Korea for 30th-place in the medal table for swimming at the 2018 Youth Olympics. [12]
In June 2021 at the US Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska, White became the first woman from the University of Alabama to win any event at a US Olympic trials in swimming when she won the 200-meter backstroke. [13] White qualified for the 2020 US Olympic swim team with her first place finish in the 200-meter backstroke, with a time of 2:05.73, and her second place finish in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 58.60. [14] [15] [16]
2020 Summer Olympics | ||
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![]() | 4x100 m medley relay | 3:51.73 |
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan were the first Olympic Games White made the US Olympic team. [17] She became the third female athlete from the University of Alabama to make the US Olympic team in any sport, and the first female swimmer from the school. [18]
White was the first swimmer from Utah to compete in an Olympic Games. [4] [5] Her first race at an Olympic Games was in the prelims of the 100-meter backstroke where she swam a 59.02, ranked sixth overall, and advanced to the semifinals. [19] She advanced to the final from the semifinals where she swam a 58.46 and ranked fourth. [20] In the final, White swam a 58.43 and finished in fourth place less than half a second after the third place finisher and bronze medalist, American Regan Smith. [21] [22]
On day six of competition, White tied for second overall in the prelims heats of the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:08.23 and advanced to the semifinals. [23] [24] In the semifinals on day seven, White swam the third fastest time for both semifinal heats with a time of 2:07.28 and qualified for the final of the 200 meter backstroke the following day. [25] [26] [27] Later in the day, White swam the backstroke leg of the 4x100-meter medley relay, contributing to the relay ranking second for all prelims heats and qualifying for the final. [28]
In the morning on day eight, White placed fourth in the final of the 200-meter backstroke with her time of 2:06.39. [3] [29] [30]
On the ninth and final day, the finals relay of the 4x100-meter medley relay finished second and White won a silver medal for her swim as part of the prelims relay in the event. [3] [31]
2021 World Championships | ||
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![]() | 200 m backstroke | 2:01.58 |
![]() | 4×50 m medley | 1:43.61 |
White entered to compete in three individual events, the 50-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter backstroke, at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in December. [32] In the prelims heats of the 100-meter backstroke on day one, White advanced to the semifinals with a time of 56.76 seconds, which ranked her fifth overall. [33] [34] She tied Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands for second-rank in the semifinals with a time of 56.05 seconds and qualified for the final. [35] On the second day of competition, White helped win a silver medal in the 4×50-meter medley relay with finals relay teammates Lydia Jacoby, Claire Curzan, and Abbey Weitzeil, contributing a 26.33 backstroke split to the final time of 1:43.61. [36] [37] Later in the same session, White placed fifth in the final of the 100-meter backstroke with a 55.87. [38] The following morning, White swam a 2:04.08 in the prelims heats of the 200-meter backstroke and qualified for the final ranking second overall. [39] In the evening, White won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke with a 2:01.58. [40] [41] White's win was her first world title and the first individual gold medal won by a swimmer from the University of Alabama swim program at a World Championships. [7] Day four, White decided not to swim the 50-meter backstroke. [42] She officially withdrew from competition alongside teammates MIchael Andrew and Michael Brinegar the same day. [43]
Day one of the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships in February 2022, White helped win the 4×50 yard medley relay for the Alabama Crimson Tide in a time of 1:33.94 by splitting a 23.65 on the backstroke leg of the relay. [44] [45] The relay's time of 1:33.94 set a new Southeastern Conference record. [44] [46] The third day, she qualified for the final of the 100 yard butterfly with a rank of fourth and time of 51.76 in the prelims heats. [47] She placed second in the final with a 51.19, finishing 0.85 seconds after first-place finisher Ellen Walshe. [48] The next day, White advanced to the final of the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 51.08 seconds in the prelims heats. [49] In the final, she set a new pool record with her first-place time of 50.18 seconds. [50] [51] Later in the session, she split a 50.44 on the backstroke leg of the 4×100 yard medley relay to help win in a time of 3:26.64. [50] On the fifth and final day, she ranked first in the prelims heats of the 200 yard backstroke with a 1:51.57. [52] She lowered her time to a 1:50.22 in the final to win the event by over half a second. [53]
Starting off on the first day of the 2022 NCAA Championships, March 16, White swam a 23.35 for the backstroke portion of the 4×50 yard medley relay to help achieve a fourth-place finish in 1:33.29. [54] On the third day of competition, she qualified for the final of the 100 yard backstroke ranking fourth with a time of 50.65 seconds after qualifying for the b-final of the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 51.27 seconds that ranked her tenth overall. [55] Racing the events in the evening finals session, she placed second with a 50.85 in the b-final of the 100 yard butterfly and fourth in the 100 yard backstroke in 50.34 seconds. [56] In her third final of the day, White contributed to a sixth-place finish in the 4×100 yard medley relay, swimming the backstroke portion of the relay in 50.89 seconds. [57] The final day of competition, she qualified for the final of the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.36 in the prelims heats. [58] For the final, she swam a 1:49.36 and placed third. [59]
White's coach from when she competed at Cottonwood High School partially attributed White's speed to her ability to naturally hyperextend her knees in such a way that provided heightened mobility. [5]
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