Local Olympic medalist inspires younger athletes back at home

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Coming off Olympic swimmer Emma Weyant silver medal performance, Weyant’s coach, Brent Arckey, is still reeling with excitement.

“This is the pinnacle of the sport,” said Arckey. “I couldn’t be more proud of everybody here and the entire Shark community.”

Arckey said the Sarasota Sharks, who train at the Selby Aquatic Center, has had Olympians in their history but sees this recent achievement as a way of raising the bar.

“The bar is already really really high and I think this just raised the bar a little bit more,” said Arckey.

It gives more drive to younger athletes like Weyant’s younger sister Gracie who plans to swim in the 2021 FINA World Cup this fall.

“Shows that it is reachable and to just be with her every day and see all the work that she puts in, is crazy,” said Weyant.

Recent Stanford commit Liam Custer said having a teammate win a medal at the Olympics makes things more realistic.

“It puts everything into perspective and makes it more reachable -- and it gives you the goal that you can do great things too,” said Custer.

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