| Rhi Jeffrey | |
| Fullname: | Rhiannon Jeffrey[1] |
| Nicknames: | "Rhi" |
| Strokes: | Freestyle |
| Club: | Atlantis Aquatics |
| Collegeteam: | University of Southern California |
| Birth Date: | October 25, 1986 |
| Birth Place: | Delray Beach, Florida |
| Height: | 6feet |
| Weight: | 198lb |
Rhiannon Jeffrey (born October 25, 1986[2]) is a former[3] American swimmer who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Jeffrey began swimming at the age of six,[3] and won eight Florida state titles while in high school at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach, Florida. She was named state swimmer of the year four years in a row by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.[4] In 2003, for her senior year at Atlantic, she was joined on the swim team by her younger sister Kirstie.[4]
Jeffrey's first taste of international success was at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships where she swam on the U.S. 4x100 freestyle relay team that took a silver medal.[2] While still a senior in high school, she won two gold medals in the 2003 World Aquatics Championships; swimming as part of the U.S. teams in both the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays.[5]
Jeffrey was highly recruited,[6] and chose to go across the country to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.[2] Just two weeks before the 2004 United States Olympic Trials, Jeffrey was hospitalized with an abscessed tonsil;[3] she recovered in time to take 4th place in the 200 metre freestyle at the competition, and earn a spot on the 4x200 metre relay team in Athens.[2] In Athens she swam in the preliminary heats of the 4x200 freestyle relay, and when the U.S. team won the final, she was awarded a gold medal.[2]
In 2007, Jeffrey left USC and gave up swimming four months before the U.S. Olympic Trials for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[3] She relocated to Salem, Massachusetts, and took a job with Apple Inc. Jeffrey is currently the head swim coach for the Atlantis Aquatics swim team in Portsmouth, NH. https://www.teamunify.com/TabGeneric.jsp?_tabid_=176697&team=necsc[3]