Erin Gemmell ( ; born December 2, 2004) is an American competitive swimmer. She is an American record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay. In the 200 metre freestyle, she won the gold medal at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships and placed fourth at the 2022 World Short Course Championships. In the 400 meter freestyle, she won the gold medal at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, the 2022 US National title, and placed sixth at the 2022 World Short Course Championships. For the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, she won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships as well as gold medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships and 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, swimming on the finals relay at each competition. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gemmell, along with Claire Weinstein, Katie Ledecky, and Paige Madden, won the silver medal in the freestyle relay.
Background Gemmell was born December 2, 2004, in the United States."Erin Gemmell". FINA. Retrieved August 25, 2022. Her mother, Barbara, was a competitive swimmer at Northwestern University, her father, Bruce, was an All Big Ten swimmer and Captain of the University of Michigan swim team and is currently a swim coach, and her brother, Andrew, is also a competitive swimmer. She attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland, where she competed as part of the school swim team."Washington Metropolitan Private Middle School Swimming Championships". Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. February 1, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Nusbaum, Spencer (January 21, 2022). "Erin Gemmell captures four medals as Stone Ridge swimming wins second straight ISL championship". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2022. For collegiate swimming, she competes for the University of Texas swim team since the autumn of 2023.
Career 2019–2021 2019 World Junior Championships
At the 2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, held at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Gemmell won two gold medals, the first of which was in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay where she swam on both the prelims and the finals relay, splitting a 1:59.70 for the second leg of the relay in the final to help finish in 7:55.49, and the second of which was in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay where she contributed a split time of 55.52 seconds in the preliminaries before the finals relay finished in a time of 3:37.61 to place first.FINA (August 25, 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019 Budapest (HUN): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
2021 Swimming World Cup For the first stop of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup held in Berlin, Germany, Gemmell won the bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:05.61 to finish over five seconds behind gold medalist Isabel Gose of Germany.FINA (October 1, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Berlin (GER): Women's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved August 25, 2022. One stop later, in Budapest, Hungary, she improved upon her time, swimming a personal best of 4:03.28 to place fourth.FINA (October 7, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved August 25, 2022. She also won the bronze medal in the 200 meter freestyle, finishing less than two seconds behind gold medalist Madison Wilson of Australia and silver medalist Katja Fain of Slovenia with a personal best time of 1:55.04.FINA (October 8, 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
2022 2022 US International Team Trials In April, at the 2022 USA Swimming International Team Trials in Greensboro, Gemmell swam 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships qualifying times in the 200 meter freestyle, a 1:58.12, and the 400 meter freestyle, a 4:13.63, and was named to the United States roster in both events.USA Swimming (April 30, 2022). "2022 Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved August 25, 2022."2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships U.S. Roster - Version 2". USA Swimming. 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022. Three months later, in July at the 2022 US National Swimming Championships in Irvine, she won the silver medal in the 200 meter freestyle with a personal best time of 1:56.14, finishing 1.64 seconds behind gold medalist Katie Ledecky.Albano, Dan (July 27, 2022). "Katie Ledecky rallies past up-and-comer to win 200 freestyle at U.S. swimming nationals". The Orange County Register. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Pelshaw, Anya (July 27, 2022). "Erin Gemmell Swims Another Best Time With 1:56.14 200 Free; #9 American All-Time". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Sampl, Emily (July 28, 2022). "Up-and-Comers Run Night Two of the Phillips 66 National Championships". USA Swimming. Retrieved August 25, 2022. Two days later at the Championships, she won the national title and gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle with a personal best time of 4:06.17.Rieder, David (July 29, 2022). "U.S. Nationals: Erin Gemmell Goes Wire-to-Wire for First National Title in 400 Freestyle". Swimming World. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships
Starting off the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships on day one, held at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Honolulu in August, Gemmell won the gold medal in the 200 meter freestyle with a Championships record time of 1:56.15 in the final after setting a new Championships record of 1:56.66 in the preliminaries of event to qualify for the final ranking first.USA Swimming (August 24, 2022). "Day 1 Finals | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Hy-Tek (August 25, 2022). "2022 Jr Pan Pacific Swimming Championships: Results". swmeets.com. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Penland, Spencer (August 24, 2022). "Erin Gemmell Cracks Jr Pan Pacs 200 Free Record Twice In 1 Day, 1:56.15 In Finals". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 25, 2022."Junior Pan Pacs: Daniel Diehl Opens Prelims With NAG Record in 100 Backstroke; Erin Gemmell Looks Sharp". Swimming World. August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.Sagendorph, Kyle (August 25, 2022). "U.S. Opens Junior Pan Pacs With Six Titles, Four Meet Records". USA Swimming. Retrieved August 25, 2022. The following morning, she set a new Championships record of 54.42 seconds in the preliminaries of the 100 meter freestyle, lowering the previous mark of 54.47 seconds set by Gretchen Walsh in 2018, and qualifying for the final.USA Swimming (August 25, 2022). "Day 2 Prelims | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Gibbs, Robert (August 25, 2022). "Erin Gemmell Moves To #6 In 17-18 Age Group With 54.13 Meet Record In The 100 Free". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 25, 2022. She lowered her Championships record and personal best time to 54.13 seconds in the final, winning the gold medal.USA Swimming (August 25, 2022). "Day 2 Finals | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 25, 2022.Sagendorph, Kyle (August 26, 2022). "U.S. Grabs One Relay, Three Individual Titles on Junior Pan Pacs Night Two". USA Swimming. Retrieved August 26, 2022. For her final event of the day, the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, she anchored the relay to a first-place finish with a 1:54.86, helping achieve a new Championships record of 7:54.70.De George, Matthew (August 25, 2022). "Junior Pan Pacs: Day 2 Finals – Flynn Southam Outduels Thomas Heilman in 100 Free". Swimming World. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
Day three, Gemmell ranked first overall in the preliminaries of the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:08.53 and qualified for the final. Finishing in a personal best time of 4:05.07 in the final, she won the gold medal and set a new Championships record in the event, lowering the record over two full seconds from the former mark of 4:07.10 set in 2012 by Leah Smith.USA Swimming (August 26, 2022). "Day 3 Finals | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 26, 2022.Lohn, John (August 26, 2022). "Junior Pan Pacs – Day 3 Finals: Erin Gemmell Completes Freestyle Triple With Meet Record in 400". Swimming World. Retrieved August 26, 2022.Penland, Spencer (August 26, 2022). "Erin Gemmell Does It Again, Blasts 4:05.07 400 FR To Take Down Jr Pan Pacs Record". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 26, 2022. For her final event of the evening, she helped win the gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in a Championships record time of 3:37.99, splitting a 54.29 for the third leg of the relay.Penland, Spencer (August 27, 2022). "U.S. Breaks Girls 4×100 Free Relay Jr Pan Pacs Record In 3:37.99". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 27, 2022. On the morning of day four, she swam a personal best time of 25.42 seconds in the 50 meter freestyle preliminary heats and qualified for the final ranking second.USA Swimming (August 27, 2022). "Day 4 Prelims | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 27, 2022. In the evening final, she finished in a time of 25.46 seconds to win the bronze medal, finishing 0.27 seconds behind gold medalist Milla Jansen of Australia.Lohn, John (August 27, 2022). "Junior Pan Pacs – Day 4 Finals: Maximus Williamson Crushes NAG Record (15-16) in 200 IM; Flynn Southam Triples". Swimming World. Retrieved August 27, 2022. In her final event of the Championships, she split a 53.73 for the freestyle leg of the 4×100 meter medley relay to help win the gold medal in a Championships record time of 4:02.14.USA Swimming (August 27, 2022). "Day 4 Finals | Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". YouTube. Retrieved August 27, 2022.Penland, Spencer (August 28, 2022). "Erin Gemmell's 53.73 Anchor Leads U.S. To Jr Pan Pacs Record In Girls 4×100 Medley". SwimSwam. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
After earning points for each of her placings in her individual events throughout the Championships, Gemmell ranked as the highest scoring female, and overall, swimmer with thirty-three points, which was five points ahead of the highest scoring male swimmer, Joshua Staples of Australia.Lepesant, Anne (August 28, 2022). "Erin Gemmell, Joshua Staples Top The Points Tables At 2022 Junior Pan Pacs". SwimSwam. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
2022 Swimming World Cup