17-year old Olympic medalist, American butterfly stroke prodigy, University of Virginia Swim & Dive commit, and a kid from Crozet are just a few of the titles used to describe Western Albemarle legend and student, Thomas Heilman.
If you haven’t heard the news this summer, Western’s very own Thomas Heilman is an Olympic Silver medalist. He has extraordinarily represented Western to the world this year through his time at Olympic trials and at his Olympic debut.
Thomas has been a well known prodigy for a few years now for several accomplishments. At the Junior Pan Pac Championships Thomas won three gold medals and 3 silver medals, Thomas has excelled at the World Championships winning gold in the 4 x 100 medley, finally winning silver and bronze at the U.S. Open Championships. He made history after being the youngest male swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games since Michael Phelps in 2000, at only 17 years old.
Thomas qualified for Olympic trials under 3 events, 2 of which he did not expect to make the Olympic team for. The Olympic trials were set for June 15-23, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He first qualified for his trip to Indianapolis with the 200 fly (butterfly), his specialty event. He booked his second time cut with the 100 fly, and his third cut with the 200 free (freestyle).
At trials, Thomas had a standout performance, qualifying under the 200 fly in a tight race and the 100 fly along with phenom Caleb Dressel, stunning the crowd. As he received his qualification medal and put on his Team U.S.A. hat with the engraving “I made it”, Thomas was described as “just a kid from Crozet.”
Thomas’s Olympic journey had only just begun, and he was off to Raleigh, North Carolina for the first part of training camp. Most of the heat of training was in Raleigh, to set the tone for the team. Part two of training camp took place across the ocean in Croatia. The whole team flew together to Croatia, stayed there and trained for 12 days, and had lots of time for team bonding before their next stop in Paris.
When Thomas arrived at the Olympic Village, he was a little underwhelmed. “It was pretty average, everything was good enough for there to be a competition, but I would never want to live there.” The rooms in the village were made up like large hotel rooms or dorms, sometimes having suites. Thomas roomed with Luke Whitlock, a 18 year old swimmer from Noblesville, Indiana. Thomas quickly bonded with fellow younger teammates, especially those who were in his suite.
This year, the Olympic committee made choices regarding beds for the athletes that were extremely controversial. All beds were made of cardboard, to contribute to a “healthier environment”, and according to some athletes, to make sure the only sweat they break is in their sport. “The beds in general were pretty bad”, Thomas commented, “luckily Team USA got us some mattress toppers which honestly didn’t make a big difference, but for the time we were there it was reasonable.”
Thomas stayed in the Olympic village for about 2 weeks, and unfortunately did not attend either the opening or closing ceremonies. “For the opening ceremony, people who were competing in the first four days of the meet were not allowed to participate in the ceremony because it’s a lot of time on your feet and the weather was not good,” said Thomas. The closing ceremony took place a week after the swim meet ended, and by that time Thomas was back home.
Thomas’s first event was the 200 fly which is also his best event. He swam the prelims for the 200 fly at 5:00am (ET) on July 30th, and placed 2nd in his heat. He moved on to semifinals later in the afternoon and placed 10th overall, just missing finals by 2 places. On August 2nd, fans were up at 5:00am again to watch Thomas swim in the 100 fly prelims. He placed 18th overall, just missing the semifinals by 2 places. Finally, the end of the meet was near and Thomas was still hungry for his first ever Olympic medal. He was placed in the prelims of the 4 x 100 medley relay on August 3rd. Thomas swam the butterfly leg of the relay along with Hunter Armstrong swimming the backstroke leg, Charlie Swanson swimming the breaststroke leg, and Jack Alexy swimming the freestyle leg.
The group earned Team USA a spot in the men’s finals for the 4 x 100 medley relay on the following evening, in which older and more decorated swimmers took the preliminary swimmer’s spots. Caleb Dressel took Thomas’s place swimming the butterfly leg, Hunter Armstrong swam the freestyle leg this time in the finals, Ryan Murphy swam the backstroke leg taking Hunter Armstrong’s preliminary spot, and Nic Fink swam the breaststroke leg in place of Swanson. These four icons secured silver for team USA on August 4th. Because the original swimmers of the preliminary race contributed to the medal, they all received medals as well, in a separate ceremony, later the same night.
One thing talked about especially on social media this summer, was the food at the Olympic village. According to Thomas, “the food was not very good at all, especially the first few days, a lot of things were either overcooked or undercooked. The desserts, breakfasts and pastries were really good. And yes, the chocolate muffin was really good.” Surprisingly, there were no meal plans for the athletes, it was a buffet set up and athletes could come and go as they pleased.
Of course, many famous athletes were on team USA, or competed for other countries at the Olympics. Thomas met a few household names as he said, “I did run into Carlos Alcaraz, who was probably the most famous person I saw. I got a picture with him but I wouldn’t say I necessarily met him.” He also shared that the women’s gymnastics team was rooming across the hall from him in the team USA building, “We would often get caught waiting for elevators with them, and to be honest in the nicest way they looked like fourth graders. I knew gymnasts were small but I was kind of surprised by Simone Biles height.”
As you can imagine, being on the swim team for the USA would be a surreal experience, swimming with people you have looked up to during your childhood. “Caleb Dressel, who I swam the 100 fly with was definitely one of the biggest role models I’ve had in swimming in general,” Thomas said, “this was the first time I was on a team with him so to get to know him better was a really awesome experience.” Dressel has been referred to in the past as a “grandpa” on team USA, as he has been an amazing role model for many of the younger swimmers on the team.
After Thomas’s time in the village was up, the rest of his family returned home but he and his mom stayed in downtown Paris for a few days, to explore and see a little bit outside of the Olympics. Thomas visited the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and other famous tourist sites in Paris. He attended a beach volleyball game with swimmer Paige Madden, and an indoor volleyball game, but those were the only ones he was able to watch.
As you would assume, Thomas received lots of Team USA gear, which you will see Thomas rocking around school. He had so much extra gear, he gave bunches to friends because he could not store it all. Even though he did not attend the opening or closing ceremonies, he still received the Ralph Lauren outfits. He also was given a Team USA motorcycle helmet as memorabilia in Indianapolis at trials, since Indy is a well known place for race car driving.
Overall, Thomas has made history here at Western. The accomplishments he has made over the past 4 years will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations Thomas!
