Jillian Altenburger, a 22-year-old Mendham resident, qualified to participate in the 2012 Olympic Swimming Trials in Nebraska later this month.

Altenburger made the cut in the May 26 at the Berkeley Aquatic Club Memorial Day Invitational Swim Meet held at Rutgers University’s Sonny Werblin Recreation Center.

A member of the Berkeley Aquatic Club swim team, Altenburger swam the 200 Meter Freestyle in 2:02.56, besting the qualification time of 2:03.19.  The Olympic Trials will be held in Omaha, Nebraska June 25 – July 2; the top two swimmers in each event will represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London later in July.

Altenburger has been training with Coach Jim Wood at Berkeley Aquatic since she was eleven years old and in 2008, she qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 200 Meter Individual Medley with a 2:20.17 and bested that time at Trials with a 2:19.55.  

Altenburger has continued to train with the Berkeley Aquatic Club during breaks from Princeton for the past three years.

Jillian is the daughter of Raymond Altenburger of Mendham and graduated from Villa Walsh Academy in Morristown in 2008.

As a member of the Princeton University Swim team, Jillian placed second at the 2011 Ivy League Championships in both the 200 yard Freestyle and the 200 yard Individual Medley and was a member of the winning 400 yard Freestyle Relay, setting both a meet and Ivy League record which still stand.  

Altenburger is a member of the class of 2013 at Princeton University, majoring in History. Beyond swimming, Altenburger hopes to pursue a career in finance or fashion when she graduates. 

When asked if she was surprised to make the cut at the Memorial Day Meet, Jillian replied, “I was grateful and quite relieved that I finally made it. Earlier in the year, I tried to get it at a couple of meets,"Altenburger said. "This was my last chance to make the cut so I was definitely very happy when I saw the scoreboard at the end of the race.” 

Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone each day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast, sign up here.