Swimming
Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville)
Hoelzer qualified for the Olympic games by winning the 200m backstroke at Olympic Trials. Margaret was the top-ranked American in the 200m back in 2003.
Hoelzer started swimming when she was five years old "because her older sister did." She practices 20-25 hours a week and says that it's not boring because even during practice she's "racing against her teammates because they're all good swimmers" and she has to stay alert. She's known for wearing fuzzy house slippers on deck before a race. Her favorite strokes are butterfly and backstroke.
Hoelzer graduated from Huntsville High School and attends Auburn University, majoring in Psychology, minoring in Criminology. Elizabeth hopes to continue swimming until 2008 and then reevaluate her life choices. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Warren Hoelzer.
Swimming is scheduled for August 14-21 in Athens with the women's 200m backstroke on August 19 and the 200m backstroke final and medal ceremony on August 20.
Track & Field
Aretha Hill (Opelika)
Aretha was 1st at Olympic Trials (63.55m/208-6). In addition to winning her first U.S. discus title in 2003, Hill proved her dominance over other U.S. women’s discus throwers by posting nine of the top 11 throws by Americans that season. Other highlights: 1999 & 2003 Pan Am Games gold medalist. Hill originally wanted to play softball but her high school coach wanted her to do track. He bet her that if he could beat her in one-on-one basketball, she would give up softball. She lost and kept her bet.
Women's Discus Throw is scheduled for August 20-22 in Athens.
Soccer
Catherine "Cat" Reddick (Birmingham)
Stepped in to play every minute of every match in the 2003 Women’s World Cup after Brandi Chastain was injured in the first half of the tournament’s first match. Won the MAC Hermann Award as the top women's college player in the country at University of North Carolina. Won five Alabama state titles and made the regional semifinals twice. If she wasn’t a soccer player, she would be a cowgirl. Wants a career in sports broadcasting or coaching.
Women's Soccer is scheduled for August 11, 14, 20, 23 and 26 in Greece.
Shooting
Collyn Loper (Birmingham)
Finished first in women's trap at the Final Olympic Team Selection Match. Gold medalist and Quota place winner at the 2003 Pan Am Games. Collyn is naturally right-handed, but being born blind in her right eye has forced her to train her body to shoot left, an obstacle that doesn't seem to have affected her shooting. She is currently in high school and will graduate in 2005.
Shooting is scheduled for August 14-22 in Athens.
NBC Universal networks (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Bravo, HDTV, and T) will be providing 24-hour per day (over 1,200 hours total) coverage of the Olympics from August 11-29. Don't miss a minute of it and cheer our Alabama Olympic athletes on!
