By: Scott Bentley | West Bloomfield Beacon | Published December 11, 2025
WEST BLOOMFIELD — West Bloomfield High senior Elizabeth Eichbrecht swam her final high school event Nov. 21 at Oakland University in the MHSAA Division 1 state meet.
As expected, she went out on top, with state titles in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle.
“I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish this year,” she said. “This year, being my last year, I really wanted to put a stamp on it and end it the best way I possibly could.”
Eichbrecht certainly achieved that. Not only did she win titles in both events, but she also set All-Finals records in both races. Eichbrecht’s 200-yard prelim time of 1:45:05 broke a record set in 2007 by Olympic medalist Allison Schmitt.
“My accomplishments are lifted up by my team and the fact that we accomplished more together as a team than other (West Bloomfield) teams in the past,” she said. “My accomplishments are my own, but to see as a team we’ve cleared almost the entire varsity record board and that we’ve taken down many other records … just to be a part of that team is the thing I’ll take away the most.”
With Eichbrecht on the team the past four years, West Bloomfield has consistently fought in the top 10 at states and has put together some of the best seasons in program history.
“I think it’s made a huge impact on our program overall,” said Ronson Webster, head swim coach at West Bloomfield High. “The young swimmers from the middle school see the accomplishments that are happening at the high school. … They look up to those older swimmers, and now they want to be just like them.”
Four years ago, Eichbrecht was in middle school and looking forward to her high school career. She proceeded to win state titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events as a freshman, and then she won both events in each year of her high school career.
“When she was a freshman, we knew she was going to do well,” Webster said. “We had goals for her as a freshman … to hopefully break a state record (by the time she was a senior). … She’s always been such a hard worker, so it’s been an honor and a privilege.”
Expectations were high, but she lived up to them.
“It’s always super cool when you have a girl that can break all of the records when we go to a pool,” Webster said. “She’s had an undefeated career in high school, minus one event. This year she took second in a 500(-yard) freestyle … but she actually swam it butterfly and still took second place. … I’m super proud of everything she’s accomplished.”
Now, Eichbrecht will go on to swim at Indiana University, which touts one of the best swimming programs in the country.
“I want to continue swimming my events,” Eichbrecht said. “Just to be able to train with people that are faster than me, I think, will help me continue to grow as a swimmer.”
In 2026, for the first time since she was in middle school, someone not named Elizabeth Eichbrecht will win the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events at the MHSAA Division 1 state meet.
“I feel great. It’s been an honor to be a part of this team,” Eichbrecht said. “I’m ready to go swim at Indiana with my future teammates.”
According to swimcloud.com, Eichbrecht is the 20th ranked high school senior in the country and the top recruit from Michigan in the 2026 class. Indiana landed three top 20 recruits in the country in this year’s class. Eichbrecht joins top swimmers Kayla Han and Paige Downey. Indiana finished in fourth place at the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Championship meet.