2004 Gold Medalist Rhi Jeffrey Training for Comeback in Bizarre New Zealand Scenario

The latest comeback attempt by a swimmer long retired is a reminder that all of these young superstars that are coming through the ranks are not invincible. In fact, this latest comeback is from a swimmer who is furthest removed from her biggest achievements, yet is the youngest among the names we’ve heard so far.

The name is former USC Trojan Rhi Jeffrey. The name is probably totally unfamiliar to the newest generation of swim fans, despite the fact that she seemed like a can’t-miss prospect as a teenager. When she was a senior in highschool, Jeffrey won two World Championship gold medals as part of the American relays at the 2003 Barcelona World Championships. And she didn’t sneak into those medals as a prelims swimmer either. In both finals, she was planted right there next to the greats like Natalie Coughlin, Lindsay Benko, and Jenny Thompson. She swam the 3rd-leg on both the 400 and 800 free relays in finals for the USA.

The next year, after signing to swim at USC, Jeffrey fought her way to a 4th-place finish in the 200 free at the 2004 Olympic Trials, despite being only two weeks out of the hospital for an abscessed tonsil. In Athens, she was part of the 800 free relay, and took home an Olympic medal for her prelims contributions.

But by 2008, when the Beijing Trials rolled around, Jeffrey had left the sport to take a big position with Apple, and poof, she was off of the swimming map. The “can’t miss” young swimmer had fizzled out of swimming existence. Everyone assumed that was that – she wasn’t on pool decks coaching, she wasn’t still involved in the sport, she wasn’t using her fame for marketing. She was working a day job at Apple, much like the rest of the world.

That was until she resurfaced in Auckland, New Zealand of all places, this week. There, she is reported to be training with the West Auckland Aquatic Club for the 2012 Olympic Trials.

While a comeback is no longer any sort of shocking news, this story was truly bizarre. The only reason that anyone knew about Jeffrey’s training is because the 24-year old was involved in a landmark legal case as a result of her dating a 17-year old.

You can check nzherald.com for the full details, but it basically went down thusly:

Jeffrey met, and began a relationship, with one of New Zealand’s top young swimmers named Justin Wright. Wright’s parents, understandably, objected to the 7-year gap in the swimmers’ ages, and after fighting with the swim club to intervene in the swimmers’ relationship, withdrew their consent for him to participate as a member of Swim New Zealand. Much like in the United States, athletes in New Zealand under the age of 18 need parental consent to compete.

Wright then took the matter before a New Zealand court, where he won the right to sign his own consent form, and effectively divorced himself from his parents. He has since moved in with Jeffrey, and other parents on the team have pitched in to pay his membership fees.

Aside from the purely laughable way we found out about Jeffrey’s comeback, what are her chances of making the Olympic squad? Times have changed since her last major World-Championship-type meet in 2004. Her best times in the 100/200 freestyles back then were around 55.2/1:59.7 off of flat starts. In 2012, I can’t see any less than 54.5/1:57.7 at trials even earning a prelims swim. It’s definitely going to be an uphill battle for Jeffrey to make the U.S. Olympic squad.