Kelsi Dahlia

Kelsi Worrell Dahlia (née Worrell; born July 15, 1994) is a former American competitive swimmer specializing in butterfly and freestyle events. At the 2018 World Championships, Dahlia won nine total medals of which seven were gold medals.^[5][6] She qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100-meter butterfly and won a gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay for swimming in the heats.^[7]

Kelsi Dahlia

Dahlia in 2017
Personal information
Birth name	Kelsi Worrell
Full name	Kelsi Worrell Dahlia
Nationality	American
Born	(1994-07-15) July 15, 1994 (age 28)^[1] Voorhees Township, New Jersey, U.S.^[2]
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)^[2]
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)^[2]
Spouse(s)	Tom Dahlia (m. 2017)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
Club	Cali Condors^[3] Cardinal Aquatics
College team	University of Louisville^[4]
Coach	Arthur Alberio
Medal record Women's swimming Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley World Championships (LC) 2017 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle 2017 Budapest 4×100 m medley 2017 Budapest 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2017 Budapest 4×100 m mixed medley 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m medley 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m freestyle 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m mixed medley 2017 Budapest 100 m butterfly World Championships (SC) 2016 Windsor 4×100 m freestyle 2016 Windsor 4×50 m medley 2016 Windsor 4×100 m medley 2018 Hangzhou 100 m butterfly 2018 Hangzhou 4×50 m freestyle 2018 Hangzhou 4×100 m freestyle 2018 Hangzhou 4×50 m medley 2018 Hangzhou 4×100 m medley 2018 Hangzhou 4×50 m mixed freestyle 2018 Hangzhou 4×50 m mixed medley 2016 Windsor 50 m butterfly 2016 Windsor 100 m butterfly 2016 Windsor 200 m butterfly 2018 Hangzhou 200 m butterfly 2018 Hangzhou 50 m butterfly Pan Pacific Championships 2018 Tokyo 100 m butterfly 2018 Tokyo 4×100 m freestyle 2018 Tokyo 4×100 m medley Pan American Games 2015 Toronto 100 m butterfly 2015 Toronto 4×100 m medley 2015 Toronto 4×100 m freestyle Representing the Louisville Cardinals NCAA Championships 2015 Greensboro 100 y butterfly 2015 Greensboro 200 y butterfly 2016 Atlanta 100 y butterfly 2016 Atlanta 200 y butterfly 2014 Minneapolis 100 y butterfly 2015 Greensboro 4×50 y medley 2016 Atlanta 4×100 y medley 2015 Greensboro 50 y freestyle 2016 Atlanta 4×50 y medley

As part of the International Swimming League she competes for the Cali Condors.

Early life and education

Born in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, Worrell grew up in Westampton Township, New Jersey where she swam for Jersey Storm Swimming and Tarnsfield Swim Club her whole childhood. She attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, where she graduated as part of the class of 2012.^[2]

Career

College

As a senior at Louisville, she won the Honda Sports Award in the swimming & diving category in 2016.^[8][9]

2015

At the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly.^[4][10]

Worrell held the American record in the 100-yard butterfly. At the NCAA finals in March 2015, she broke the 13-year-old record held by Natalie Coughlin, and became the first woman to break 50 seconds in the event.^[11] In March 2016, she improved her record to 49.43 s.^[12]

At the Duel in the Pool meeting in December 2015, Worrell broke the world record in the 4×100 meter medley relay (short course) together with her teammates Courtney Bartholomew, Katie Meili, and Simone Manuel.^[13]

2016 Summer Olympics

See also: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics

At the US Olympic Swimming Trials, Worrell placed first in the 100-meter butterfly and qualified for the US Olympic team.

In Rio de Janeiro, Worrell placed 4th in the heats of the 100-meter butterfly but failed to qualify for the finals after finishing 9th in the semi-finals. She won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay for swimming in the prelims.

2018 World Swimming Championships

At the 2018 World Swimming Championships in December in Hangzhou, China, Dahlia won a record nine medals at a FINA Championships meet, narrowly taking a lead in the gold medal count with seven medals over Caeleb Dressel who also won nine medals only with one less gold medal.^[5][6]

International Swimming League

In 2019 she was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League representing the Cali Condors, who finished third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada in December. Dahlia won the 100-meter butterfly at the final beating world record holder Sarah Sjöström for the second time of the season. ^[14]

2019 World Championships

Dahlia won one gold and two silver medals competing for Team USA at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. She swam the butterfly leg of the 4×100 meter medley final in which USA won gold with a world-record time of 3:50.40.^[15] She won silver for a preliminary heat in the 4×100 meter mixed medley and a silver in the 4×100 meter freestyle final, setting an American record with a time of 3:31.02.^[16]

Retirement From Swimming

In 2022 Dahlia announced her official retirement from the sport and now works an associate coach for the Notre Dame University swimming and diving team posting a thank you message on Instagram for all that swimming has contributed to her as a person both in an out of the pool.

Awards and honors

• SwimSwam Top 100 (Women's): 2021 (#53),^[17] 2022 (#46)^[18]

Personal life

In 2017 Dahlia married her husband, Tom. She has 4 siblings: Jarrod, Kyle, Lindi, and Taylor who were and are also swimmers have all swam for Tarnsfield Swim Club. Her brother Kyle also swam for Louisville as well as qualified and competed in the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.

References

1. "Kelsi Worrell – 2015–16 Swimming and Diving". Louisville Cardinals. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
2. "Kelsi Worrell Swimming". Team USA. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
3. Keith, Braden (December 9, 2019). "Cali Condors Unveil Roster for 2019 International Swimming League Finale". SwimSwam.
4. Flaherty, Bryan (August 6, 2015). "Kelsi Worrell wins USA Swimming national title in the women's 100-meter butterfly". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
5. "Team USA Wraps Dominant FINA World Championships (25m) with Nine-Medal Performance". USA Swimming. December 16, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
6. Zaccardi, Nick (December 16, 2018). "Caeleb Dressel finishes with nine medals, six gold; U.S. dominates short course worlds". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
7. USA Swimming (June 27, 2016). . Omega Timing. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
8. "Louisville's Kelsi Worrell Wins Honda Award as Top Collegiate Swimmer". SwimSwam. April 8, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
9. "Swimming & Diving". CWSA. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
10. Lintner, Jonathan (July 19, 2015). "Another gold for Cards' Worrell at Pan Am Games". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
11. Keith, Braden (March 20, 2015). "Kelsi Worrell Becomes First Woman Ever Under 50 Seconds In 100 Yard Fly". Swimswam. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
12. Neidigh, Lauren (March 18, 2016). "Kelsi Worrell Crushes 100 Fly American Record". Swimswam. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
13. Lohn, John (December 12, 2015). . Swimvortex. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
14. Lepesant, Anne (December 20, 2019). "International Swimming League Finale in Las Vegas: Day One Live Recap". SwimSwam.
15. "2019 Worlds final" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
16. "2019 Worlds final". FINA. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
17. Ortegon, Karl (February 10, 2021). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2021: Women's #75 — #51". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
18. Sutherland, James (January 11, 2022). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Women's #50-41". SwimSwam. Retrieved January 11, 2022.

External links

• Kelsi Dahlia at USA Swimming ()
• Kelsi Dahlia at FINA
• Kelsi Worrell at TeamUSA.org
• Kelsi Worrell at Olympics.com
• Kelsi Worrell at Olympedia
• Kelsi Worrell at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

Records
Preceded by Sarah Sjöström	Women's 100 meter butterfly world record holder (short course) 3 December 2021 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent