2024 Olympics: Kristi Weyant, daughters on way to Paris to cheer on Emma Weyant in Games

SARASOTA - Kristi Weyant has a decision to make. Take more suitcases to Paris or more credit cards.

The mother of former Riverview High, current Florida Gator, and Team USA swimmer Emma Weyant is taking along two of her daughters. Another, studying in Italy for the summer, will join the four in the “City of Light.” A mom and her four daughters, tempted to shop in one the world’s best places for it?

Definitely the credit cards.

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“It’s crazy that a girl from Riverview High School,” Kristi said, “ just a kid from Sarasota who went to Riverview, is (in Paris) as a two-time Olympian . It’s crazy.”

In one of her suitcases, Kristi will pack the red, white and blue to cheer on Emma, who will swim the 400-meter IM, the same event in which she won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Emma Weyant was there. Kristi wanted to be. COVID-19 had other ideas. The Games were still held, even if no spectators were present to watch them.

“I was really disappointed,” Kristi said. “It was really and truly the moment of a lifetime. Emma was 19 years old, she had made an Olympic team, which was like a dream come true. And then, of course, we couldn’t go watch it.”

Fast-forward three years. Kristi knew that if Emma qualified for the Paris Games, there wouldn’t be a worldwide pandemic to keep her home again. So the moment Emma Weyant’s hand touched the wall in Indianapolis at the USA Swimming Olympic Trials as one of the top two finishers in the 400 IM, Kristi contemplated one thought.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to Paris.’’’ she said.

Kristi and her daughters leave for Paris on Friday and return on Aug. 2.

“Honestly, it’s the moment of a lifetime,” she said. “It’s the trip of a lifetime. I never envisioned this, and it’s just really cool. I’m excited to put on the red, white, and blue and cheer on Team USA.”

And cheer on Emma, if it’s only for a day. The prelims and finals for the 400 IM, the only event for which she qualified, are on Monday.

“She will go to support Team USA on the other days, but we will have some time in the afternoon when she is free to explore the city with us.”

The Tokyo Emma Weyant isn’t the same as the Paris Emma Weyant, who graduated early from the University of Florida but will return for a fourth year to swim. The 22-year-old has a line of swimwear and is working on her master’s degree, hoping to attend law school. The end of Emma’s swimming career is coming closer.

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“She is really academically minded,” Kristi said, “and she is definitely thinking of that next step. How long does she swim after Paris? Definitely for another year at the University of Florida. And then, I don’t know.”

And while Emma told her mother she feels she’s back in the shape she was in 2021, the silver-medal winner in Tokyo in the 400 IM isn’t expected to take home gold. Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, who has trained with the Sarasota Sharks for the past year at the Selby Aquatic Center, is the world record holder in the event.

“And by a lot,” Kristi said.

Indeed, McIntosh’s world-record time of 4:24.38 leaves in its wake Weyant’s time of 4:32.76, which won her the silver medal.

“She is a lot faster than Emma’s best time,” Kristi said. “Emma is not going to be looking at a world record, but she is looking to stay in the game and to get a medal.

“The goal is to add to the medal count. It’s all about country. She just said there is so much pride wearing that American flag on your cap and just walking out and representing your country. She said it’s the most special thing she’s ever done.”

If there was a downer to her trip, it’s that daughter Gracie is not swimming as well. Emma’s younger sister suffers from scoliosis, which is an irregular curve to the spine. Kristi said this was the first time the condition forced Gracie out of the pool.

Mom and her daughters will be staying at a hotel in Paris, which Kristi found online, at a price of around $350 a night.

“I was expecting it to be a lot worse than that,” she said. Families of Olympic competitors receive no help in locating accommodations. “It wasn’t so hard to find. I looked that week after we got home from the Olympic Trials and found a hotel and, thankfully, we’re all set.”

They plan on seeing the sights of Paris. Emma wants to visit La Galerie Dior, which is the Christian Dior museum. Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and Champs-Elysees also might be on the agenda.

But seeing her daughter represent the United States in the Olympics? For Kristi Weyant, that trumps all. Even the vibrant streets of the “City of Light.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 2024 Olympics: Kristi Weyant, daughters on way to Paris to cheer on Emma Weyant in Games