Early career At the age of 12, Vollmer was the youngest swimmer to compete at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials, but did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. She was also the youngest swimming competitor a year later at the
2001 Goodwill Games.
2004 Summer Olympics At the
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Vollmer won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in
4×200-meter freestyle relay, together with
Natalie Coughlin,
Carly Piper and
Kaitlin Sandeno. In addition to winning the gold medal, the U.S. relay team broke the previous
world record in the event that had stood for 17 years.
2005–2008 At the
2007 World Aquatics Championships, Vollmer won a gold medal in the
4×200-meter freestyle relay. She also won the silver medal in the
4×100-meter freestyle relay and
4×100-meter medley relay. Vollmer just missed making the 2008 Olympic team, placing seventh at the
2008 US Olympic Trials in the 200-meter freestyle with 1:58.67, 0.51 seconds behind the 6th-place finisher, 5th in the 100-meter butterfly with 58.64, and 9th in the 100-meter freestyle with 54.84, 0.03 seconds behind 8th place qualifier
Amanda Weir.
2009–2011 On February 25, 2009, Vollmer set her first individual
American record, breaking
Natalie Coughlin's 200-yard freestyle record with a time of 1:41.53. At the
2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy, Vollmer won two medals, a silver and a bronze. In the
200-meter freestyle, Vollmer set an American record in the semi-final with a time of 1:55.29. In the final of the 200-meter freestyle, Vollmer placed third, and her American record was broken by
Allison Schmitt. In the
4×200-meter freestyle relay, Vollmer swam the leadoff leg in 1:55.29. The American team finished in second place behind China with a time of 7:42.56. At the
2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Vollmer won a total of three medals, two gold medals and one silver. In her first event, the
4×100-meter freestyle relay, Vollmer won a silver medal with
Natalie Coughlin,
Jessica Hardy, and
Missy Franklin. After setting the
national record in the semi-finals of the
100-meter butterfly (56.47), Vollmer won the gold medal in the final with a time of 56.87. In the
4×100-meter medley relay, Vollmer the gold medal along with
Natalie Coughlin,
Rebecca Soni, and
Missy Franklin with a time of 3:52.36, better than three seconds ahead of second-place finisher China. Swimming the butterfly leg, Vollmer had a split of 55.74. The final time of 3:52.36 for the medley relay was the second-fastest mark of all time, just behind the Chinese-held world record of 3:52.19.
2012 Summer Olympics At the
2012 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Olympics, Vollmer qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the second time by finishing first in the 100-meter butterfly and third in the 200-meter freestyle. In the final race of the 100-meter butterfly, Vollmer won in a time of 56.50 seconds, better than one second ahead of second-place
Claire Donahue. In the semi-final, Vollmer had broken her own
American record of 56.47 with her time of 56.42. Vollmer also competed in the 100-meter freestyle, but just missed a spot on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay by finishing seventh (54.61). At the
2012 Summer Olympics in London, she again broke her American record and set an Olympic record with a time of 56.25 seconds in her
100-meter butterfly qualifying heat. In the 100-meter butterfly final, she won the gold medal and set a new world record with her time of 55.98. Vollmer also competed in the
4×200-meter freestyle relay. She swam the second leg with a time of 1:56.02, as the U.S. team won gold with a time of 7:42.92. In her final event, the
4×100-meter medley relay, Vollmer won another gold with
Missy Franklin,
Rebecca Soni and
Allison Schmitt. Swimming the butterfly leg, Vollmer recorded a split time of 55.48, as the U.S. team set a new world record with a time of 3:52.05, bettering the previous record of 3:52.19 set by China in 2009.
2016 Summer Olympics At the
2016 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Rio Olympics, Vollmer qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the third time by finishing second in the 100-meter butterfly. In the final race of the 100-meter butterfly, she swam a time of 57.21 seconds, finishing behind
Kelsi Worrell. Vollmer also qualified for the 4x100 meter freestyle relay by touching sixth in the individual 100 meter freestyle. At the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, she won a bronze medal in the
100-meter butterfly with a time of 56.63. Vollmer also competed in the
4×100-meter freestyle relay the same night, in which she swam the third leg with a split of 53.18. The U.S. team of her,
Simone Manuel,
Abbey Weitzeil, and
Katie Ledecky won silver with an American record time of 3:31.89. She also swam in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay, helping the US team win the gold medal. Her gold in the medley relay was the 1,000th gold medal for the US at the summer Olympics.
2017 On 13 April 2017 Vollmer competed in the Women's 50 Free of the 2017 Arena Pro Swim Series Indy while six months pregnant. She participated in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; time and placing was not important to her. She finished 55th in 27.59". She announced by wearing a green TYR techsuit that her second child would be a boy. On July 4, 2017 Vollmer gave birth to their second child Ryker Alexander Grant .
2019 On July 30, 2019, Vollmer announced her retirement from competitive swimming, stating that her last swim would be the 100 meter butterfly at the 2019
Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships in
Stanford, California. ==Life outside swimming==