Hali Flickinger is a 2x Olympic medalist, 3x world champion, and 3x NCAA team champion.
High School
Born July 7, 1994 to Doug and Lea Flickinger, the versatile swimmer built an impressive resume during her younger years, being named to the USA Swimming Junior National Team, USA Swimming Open Water National Junior Team, FINA World Cup Team member, and NCAA All-American. Flickinger is an animal lover, and she often tweets pictures of them – especially cats.
Flickinger, the #12 ranked recruit in the class of 2012, had originally chosen Texas, but ultimately recommitted to Georgia during her senior year in high school.
College (Georgia)
2012-2013
During her freshman year, Flickinger made a big impact on the Lady Bulldogs. She made the NCAA meet and finished 13th in the 200 butterfly and 14th in the 400 IM, helping her team win their fifth national title.
2013-2014
Flickinger stepped from consolation heats to the final during the 2014 NCAA Championships. She touched sixth in the 200 butterfly, making her an NCAA All-American, and 10th in the 400 IM.
She made the final in every event at the SEC Championships, helping the Bulldogs win their fifth straight SEC title.
2014-2015
In the 2015 season, Flickinger’s junior year, she battled at the NCAA Championships — Flickinger finished 6th in the 500 free, 3rd in the 200 fly and just missed out on the gold medal, finishing 2nd by just tenths of a second in the 400 IM.
After being named SEC Swimmer of the Week on numerous occasions, Flickinger was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy for high-point honors at the SECs. She won the 400 IM while placing 2nd in the 200 back and 200 fly. She also swam on UGA’s winning 800 free relay.
2015-2016
In her final year at the NCAA Championships, Flickinger helped her bulldogs get back on top as Georgia claimed it’s 3rd title in 4 years. Flickinger was paramount to this effort, placing 3rd in the 500 free and 4th in the 200 free and 200 fly. She also swam on the winning 800 free relay, 2nd place 400 free relay, and 4th place 400 medley relay.
At her last conference championships, Flickinger captured her first individual title in the 200 fly while placing 2nd in the 500 free and 3rd in the 200 back. She also swam on Georgia’s winning 800 free relay, 2nd place 200/400 free relays, and 3rd place 400 medley relay.
International Competition
In 2011, Flickinger competed in the FINA World Junior Championships in Peru and the FINA World Cup in Russia and Germany. She won two silver medals in Russia.
2012 Olympic Trials
Flickinger qualified for the US Olympic Trials where she finished 25th in the 200m butterfly, 29th in the 200m backstroke and 30th in the 200m IM.
2014 Summer Nationals
Flickinger finished 9th in the 400-meter IM, 9th in the 200-meter backstroke and 3rd in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2014 Summer Nationals, putting her on the 2014-2015 USA Swimming National Team as well as the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships team.
At the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Australia, she finished 10th in the 200m butterfly and 13th in the 400m IM.
2015-2016 U.S. National Team
Flickinger was a member of the 2015-2016 U.S. National Team in the 200 and 400-meter free, 200-meter fly and the 400-meter IM.
At the 2015 U.S. Nationals, Flickinger won the 200-meter fly (2:07.59), dominating the last 50 meters of the race to win even after choking on water on the final turn of the race. She also had a great time in the 200-meter IM, qualifying 4th in prelims, but chose to scratch the final to focus on the 400-meter free, where she finished 2nd by just .05 seconds.
2016 US Olympic Trials
Flickinger finished second in the 200m fly to Camille Adams, earning her a spot on the US Olympic Team.
2016 Rio Olympics
making it through the prelims and semis, Flickinger placed seventh in the 200m Fly in the final at the Rio Olympics Games.
2017 U.S. World Team Trials
Flickinger placed first with a time of 2:07.60 to become the first American to qualify for the World Championships this year. Flickinger shot out from the starting gun and led the entire way.
2017 World Championships
In Budapest. Flickinger advanced to the semi-finals and ultimately finished 9th, missing the final by .07.
2018 U.S. National Championships
Flickinger won the 200 butterfly at the Phillips 66 National Championships with a U.S. Open record time of 2:05.87 in the prelims and a finals mark of 2:06.14. She was seventh in the 400 freestyle (4:10.42) after posting a 4:08.40 in the prelims. Flickinger also finished second in the B final of the 200 freestyle (10th overall, 1:58.21) and in the 200 IM (10th overall, 2:12.62) and third in the B final of the 100 butterfly (11th overall, 58.90).
2018 Pan Pacific Championships
On day 2 of the Pan Pacs, Hali swam and won her signature 200 fly, touching for gold in a time of 2:07.35 to seal her victory.
ISL – Cali Condors
On June 11, 2019, Hali Flickinger was announced as a member of the Cali Condors ISL team, headed by GM Jason Lezak
2019 World Championships
In her lone event at the 2019 world champs, Flickinger came in as the top seed, and remained there through the prelims and semi-finals. In the final heat, she was passed by Boglarka Kapas on the last 50, but touched for silver in a time of 2:06.95, marking her first world championship medal.
2021 Olympic Trials
On night 1 of the trials, Flickinger qualified for her 2nd Olympics, this time in the 400 IM, touching for 2nd behind Emma Weyant in a lifetime best of 4:33.96. On night 5, Flickinger was back in the final of the 200 fly, swimming consistently as ever and touching at 2:05.85 in a new PR and US Open record, giving her a 2nd event in Tokyo.
2021 Olympic Games
Flickinger started her games off strong, advancing to the final of the 400 IM and then swimming a gutsy race to touch in 3rd, earning her first Olympic medal with a time of 4:34.90.
Flickinger was back in the 200 fly, moving through prelims and semis to earn a lane in the final. In the final heat, Flickinger swam an aggressive race upfront, ultimately touching for 3rd to earn her 2nd bronze of the week.
2022 World Championships
In Budapest, Flickinger swam her bread-and-butter event, the 200 fly. She advanced through prelims and semis easily, and in the final had a strong back half to finish 2nd, earning the silver with a 2:06.08. She also swam prelims of the 800 free relay, splitting 1:57.05 on the third leg to help USA advance to the final. USA would go on to win in the final, netting Hali a gold medal.
2022 Short Course World Championships
In Melbourne, Flickinger earned a hat trick of medals. She won her first individual world title in the 400 IM, swimming an easy prelims to qualify as the 5th seed before dominating the final and touching for first in 4:26.51, winning by over 2 seconds. She also earned silver in the 200 fly behind USA teammate Dakota Luther and bronze as a member of the 4×200 free relay.
