The University of Denver swimming club that produced Paris-bound Emma Weber is roaring.

Literally.

Earlier this week, at DU’s pool inside the Ritchie Center, dozens of youth swimmers gathered in matching red t-shirts with homemade signs, American flags, and cowbells to document their excitement. The Hilltoppers were founded in 1955 and rank among the country’s top 50 swim clubs for team performance. Weber joined starting in eighth grade.

Now, competing for Team USA, as a University of Virginia swimmer, she’s the first Hilltopper in history to make the U.S. Olympic team.

That’s why current Hilltoppers rallied for Weber as part of a good-luck video.

They chanted loudly in unison: LET’S GO EMMA! USA! USA! USA! GOOO TOPS!

“She’s struggled with feeling validated by her efforts. She’s always wanted to be better than she was,” Hilltoppers coach Shawn Smith said. “This is probably one of the first moments where she truly smiled and been happy with her own work.”

In June, at U.S. Olympic Trails in Indianapolis, Weber shocked the competitive swimming world. Her scorching personal-best 1:06.10 in the 100-meter breaststroke placed second and beat out the defending Olympic champion (Lydia Jacoby).

The result shocked even Weber.

“I’m actually at a loss for words right now. I looked up and go: ‘I don’t think that’s right,’” Weber told SwimSwam Magazine after clinching her spot in Paris. “It’s just an amazing feeling.” 

Smith added: “She was at her best at the right time.”

Who could predict this would happen?

Her mom, Deirdre Weber, had a hunch.

She canceled summer plans in April after her daughter placed first in the 100-meter breaststroke at a Pro Swim Series event in San Antonio; beating fellow 2024 U.S. qualifier Lilly King. But the Olympic writing was on Emma’s wall long before that.

“It’s a special person that has an inner drive to want to keep doing this. We always did competitive sports when she was a kid. It was one of those things that was just built inside of her,” Deirdre Weber told The Denver Gazette. “Swimming was her only individual sport. She loved it. Then she always wanted to get better.”

Weber lived in Boulder when she first joined the Hilltoppers with long car rides each day to accommodate workouts in Denver. She eventually transferred — Fairview to Regis Jesuit — making fast friends with an elite group of swimmers in her age group.

Weber won several individual CHSAA state titles. In 2021, as a high school junior, she placed 12th at U.S. Olympic Trials. Webber also claimed NCAA team championships at Virginia in each of her first two seasons. Four of her college teammates will join Weber in Paris later this month to represent their country.

“She’s been very focused and very consistent. (Weber) and her mom have always constructed her life in a way that she was set up to be practice all the time,” Smith said. “She did have outside interests, friends, a social life, and all the things a normal teenager had. But she always made sure to create a balance that would prioritize her training. Personally, a great kid.

“She’s just really good at breaststroke.”

Caitlin Crysel, a St. Mary’s Academy graduate (‘24), swam with the Hilltoppers over the past nine years. She’ll compete for Emory University starting this fall. Crysel gushed over the positive impact Weber had on their club program.

“Knowing Emma, she’s definitely going to have a lot of fun and swim fast. It will be cool to watch,” Crysel said. “She was very driven and was very supportive. Just a great person to be around. … Very humble.”

The impact of seeing a former teammate compete in the Olympics is impossible to overstate.

“Now, it seems closer,” Crysel said.