| Intro | American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion |
| A.K.A. | Rhiannon Jeffrey |
| Is |
Athlete Swimmer |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 25 October 1986, Delray Beach |
| Age: | 33 years |
Rhiannon Jeffrey (born October 25, 1986) is a former American swimmer who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Swimming career
Jeffrey began swimming at the age of six, 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. In 2003, for her senior year at Atlantic, she was joined on the swim team by her younger sister Kirstie.
Jeffrey’s first taste of international success was at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships where she swam on the U.S. 4×100 freestyle relay team that took a silver medal. 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 4×100 and 4×200 freestyle relays.
Jeffrey was highly recruited, and chose to go across the country to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Just two weeks before the 2004 United States Olympic Trials, Jeffrey was hospitalized with an abscessed tonsil; she recovered in time to take 4th place in the 200 metre freestyle at the competition, and earn a spot on the 4×200 metre relay team in Athens. In Athens she swam in the preliminary heats of the 4×200 freestyle relay, and when the U.S. team won the final, she was awarded a gold medal.
Retirement
In 2007, Jeffrey left USC and gave up swimming four months before the U.S. Olympic Trials for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She relocated to Salem, Massachusetts, and took a job with Apple Inc.