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Regan Smith is a 20 year old American swimmer specializing in backstroke and the butterfly.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Smith swam as part of the United States' women's swimming team and won silver medals in the 200 meter butterfly, and the 4×100 meter medley and a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke.
Since the Olympics, she has had a successful run at the World Championships and the U.S. Open Swimming Championships in 2022.
After her 200 meter individual medley swim at the U.S. Open that saw her win gold ahead of Leah Hayes, she spoke to SwimSwam on how training with Leon Marchand and Chase Kalisz has affected her swimming:
"It has been an incredible experience, I'd say that who I am is a product of Bob [Bowman] and being in a group with Leon [Marchand] and Jay [Litherland] and Chase [Kalisz] and a billion other amazing IMers ... They push me extremely hard,"
The 200 IM at the U.S. Open was an extremely competitive race. Initially, Smith lost a big lead on the breaststroke leg to Leah Hayes, but made up for it on the freestyle anchor as she swam past Hayes and won by just .27 seconds. Speaking to SwimSwam about how her teammates have helped her, she said:
"They're [the male IMers] obviously a lot faster than me so I really have my work cut out for me everyday to keep up with them in training because Bob is not going to slow down the set for me ... He's like 'Alright, you gotta go, I'm holding you to a high standard, I know you're good enough, so hang with these guys' ... It really pushes me, so it's hard for sure but it really paid off tonight."
Smith on how she stays motivated
In the same interview, Smith was asked how she manages to stay motivated in a highly competitive environment that has a lot of swimmers who are faster than her. She said:
"I really value my work ethic for sure ... I really just want to make Bob proud and I want him to feel that it was a good decision for me to come here.
I know that he has his hands full, he has a big college team and a big pro group so I know taking me on wasn't easy for him to do necessarily so I just want to show him how appreciative I am and just give it my all and practice every single day."
Regan Smith won five individual gold medals at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Open Swimming Championships in the 100 meter backstroke, 200 meter backstroke, 100 meter butterfly, 200 meter butterfly and of course the 200 meter individual medley.
She is a talented swimmer and is quickly making a name for herself on the international stage.
