How many Olympic medals does Regan Smith have?
Young Regan Smith undoubtedly has a long swimming career ahead of her. At the age of 20, she has already become very popular among the American faithful. She has been a lifelong swimmer and committed to the sport since the early age of 12.
In her early teens, she became a highly sought-out prospect with some very famous teams interested in her abilities. At the age of 14, she swam at meets competing against the likes of Katie Ledecky and Missy Franklin, who were both record-holders and Olympians. Around the same time, she joined Valley’s Riptide Swim Club and began swimming under the guidance of Mike Parratto. The same Parrato coached Jenny Thompson, a 12-time Olympic medalist.
Regan currently holds three Olympic medals: two silver and one bronze. She won them all at the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics.
Regan Smith's journey towards winning the Olympic medals
An interesting fact about Regan is that her Olympic career began even before her collegiate career. At the Olympic trials in June 2021, Smith successfully qualified for the Olympic games in Tokyo. She qualified for the 100-meter backstroke by winning the finals, stopping the clock at 58.35 seconds. She also competed in the 200-meter butterfly finals and finished second, qualifying for the Olympic games. The young star, during the trials, qualified for the finals of the 100-meter butterfly but did not compete in the finals.
Day 2, 100-meter backstroke, bronze
Regan set an Olympic record at her first ever Olympic swim, posting a time of 57.96 at the 100-meter backstroke. The record didn't stand for long as it was broken by her counterpart, Kaylee McKeown, who finished the second prelims at 57.88. Smith then qualified for the finals in first place after breaking the record once again at 57.86. In the finals, she swam just short of one-fifth of a second slower and won the bronze medal.
Day 4-5, 200-meter butterfly, silver
In the prelims of the event, Smith finished fourth. The next morning, she competed in the semifinals and finished fourth again with a time of 2:06.64, qualifying for the finals. She then beat her own semifinal time by more than a second with a time of 2:05.30 and won the silver medal.
Day 9, 4×100-meter medley relay, silver
Regan was chosen to compete in the event as the backstroke leg for the US team consisting of Torri Huske, Lydia Jacoby, and Abbey Weitzeil. They missed out on gold by 0.13 seconds and finished behind the Australians, winning silver.
Career outside the Olympics
Before her successful run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Regan Smith had already established herself as a star swimmer at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, where she won two gold medals in the 200-meter backstroke and the medley relay. At the 2022 World Championships, she won gold in the medley relay and in the 100-meter backstroke
At just 20, Regan may be on her way to becoming the next American superstar swimmer. The signs are definitely there.