Gold Medalist Abbey Weitzeil Gets Real About Acne and Self-Confidence as a Swimmer

For Olympic gold medalist Abbey Weitzeil, trying to craft a skin-care routine around her workout schedule requires a heck of a lot of girl math. Or, more specifically, a whole lot of girl swimmer math, “Because you know the men are just getting out of the pool and putting body lotion on their faces,” Weitzeil tells PS.

“Most people can just wake up in the morning and put on their skin-care products, but I’m waking up in the morning, jumping in the pool, getting out of the pool, going to the gym, sweating, getting back in the pool – and I can’t exactly wash my face four times a day, because that’s really bad for my skin,” she says. “So, when am I supposed to do my routine?”

Weitzeil has struggled to find the answer to that very question since 2020, when she really started to experience more breakouts. “I used to be so self-conscious about my skin,” she says. “I was so thankful that we had to wear masks at [the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo] because it would cover my acne.”

The exposure to sweat that comes with any sport is a recipe for breakouts, but swimmers have an added layer of skin complications as a result of the time they spend in the pool. “My skin goes through a lot,” says Weitzeil. “I’ve been in the pool twice a day for my whole life, and the sun and chlorine make my skin super dry. I never felt like I had the best skin ever, but I’ve been in the pool my whole life and really started to struggle with it in college.”

For many Olympic athletes, a large part of putting on a “game face” involves wearing makeup – especially when they’ve got breakouts that they’d rather not put on display to viewers all over the world. But swimmers, understandably, don’t have the luxury of a full beat that will stand up to their sport.

“No one really wears makeup when they’re in the pool or competing – we’re not like gymnasts or other sports where you’re sort of expected to wear makeup,” says Weitzeil. “I lift and tint my lashes and dye my eyebrows so that I feel more complete, but swimmers definitely have the disadvantage of our hair being in a cap and wearing goggles and tech suits, so we just don’t get to look cute.”

Adding breakouts into that mix is a recipe for rocking your confidence, she adds. “When you’re in your cap and the camera is panning to you after your race and you’re bright and puffy and breaking out, all you can think is, ‘Oh my God, everyone is staring at my acne,'” she says. “They’re not, but even so, all I used to think was, ‘Wow, my skin looks horrible.”

Recently, though, acne brand Face Reality stepped in to help Weitzeil find the solution to her skin. The virtual acne treatment platform offers professional guidance from aestheticians and dermatologists, who prepare custom regimens and, in the case of the Clear Skin Program (which Weitzeil is on), in-office treatments.

“What I like about Face Reality is that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of thing where they give you a bunch of products and wish you luck – they asked me tons of questions about things like what my days looked like and how many steps I’d actually be able to commit to in my routine,” says Weitzeil. “We worked together to come up with the right mix of acne-fighting and moisturizing products and to figure out when I should be using them during the day. Any time my skin didn’t like something, I just texted my aesthetician and she’d make immediate changes to my routine.”

Within a month of using her custom Face Reality regimen, Weitzeil saw remarkable changes in her complexion. “It’s transformed my skin,” she says.

And with that clear complexion has come more confidence in the pool. “Having clear skin has really helped me feel better about not necessarily looking my best while I’m competing,” says Weitzeil. “Obviously, I’d much rather have my hair and makeup done than be in a cap, but it’s nice to be able to feel good about my skin.”

Zoë Weiner is a freelance beauty and wellness writer. Her work has appeared in Bustle, Byrdie, Cosmopolitan, PS, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire, Allure, Self, Brides, and Teen Vogue, among others, and she was the senior beauty editor at Well+Good.