Leah Smith (swimmer)
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Leah Grace Smith[1] (born April 19, 1995) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. Smith is a member of the 2016 US Women's Olympic Swimming team, and won a bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle and a gold medal in the 4 × 200 m relay at those games.
Personal life
Smith was born in Pittsburgh to a family of many elite athletes. She is a great-granddaughter of World Series champion baseball player Jimmy Smith and great-niece of boxer Billy Conn.[2] Her sister Aileen currently swims for Columbia University.
A graduate of Oakland Catholic High School, Smith committed to swim for the University of Virginia in 2013.[3] She earned her B.A. degree in May 2017.[1]
Career
College career
Smith attended the University of Virginia, where she competed for the Virginia Cavaliers swimming and diving team.[4] At the 2015 NCAA Championships, she won both the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle. Smith repeated as NCAA Champion in both the 500-yard freestyle and the 1650-yard freestyle at the 2016 NCAA Championships.[2][5] Smith was awarded the IMP Award as the top female athlete at the University of Virginia at UVa's Annual Awards Dinner.[6]
2014
At the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Smith won a gold medal and set a championship record as a member of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. She was also 9th in both the 400 m freestyle & 800 m freestyle.[7] She then went on to win both the 400 m freestyle and the 4 × 200 m freestyle at the 2015 Summer Universiade (World University Games).[8]
2015
Smith represented the United States at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships where she won a gold medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay.[9] She placed second in the 400 m freestyle event and the 800 m freestyle events at the 2016 Olympic Trials. With only 26 spots on the Women's Olympic Swimming Team, second place athletes are not guaranteed to qualify unless and until someone qualifies for more than one event. But in the United States "there has never been an occasion where the top two swimmers in each event, along with the top six swimmers in the 100 m and 200 m free, haven’t made the team",[10] with the recent exception of Ryan Held, who finished sixth in the 100 m free at the 2020 Olympic Trials but was not selected to represent the US in Tokyo due to the 12-spot limit for relay-only swimmers, with Held being designated the 13th relay-only swimmer of priority. On July 3, 2016, Smith was named to the US Olympic Team.[11]
2016
At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Rio Olympics, Smith qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the first time by finishing second in both the 400- and 800-meter freestyle events behind Katie Ledecky and third in the 200-meter freestyle.
In 2016, Smith competed at the Rio Olympic Games. She won a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle with a 4:01.92, behind Jazmin Carlin and Ledecky. Along with Ledecky, Maya DiRado, and Allison Schmitt, Smith won her first ever Olympic gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. She had split 1:56.69 en route to a first-place finish in 7:43.03.[12]
Personal bests
Long Course
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m freestyle | 1:55.97 | 2017 World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | July 27, 2017 | (r) |
| 400 m freestyle | 4:00.65 | 2016 US Olympics Trials | Omaha, Nebraska | June 27, 2016 | |
| 800 m freestyle | 8:16.33 | 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series | |||
| 1500 m freestyle | 16:00.82 | 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships | Tokyo, Japan | August 12, 2018 | |
| 400 m Individual Medley | 4:33.86 | 2017 US Nationals | Indianapolis, Indiana | June 29, 2017 |
References
- ^ a b One Hundred and Eighty-Eighth Final Exercises (PDF). University of Virginia. May 21, 2017. p. 26. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Bio: Leah Smith". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ "Leah Smith Bio". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Class of 2017: Olympic Gold Medalist Smith Breaks Barriers in Women's Athletics". UVA Today. May 10, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ^ "National Team Bios: Leah Smith". USA Swimming. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ "2016 UVa Annual Awards Dinner".
- ^ "Meet Results: 2014 Pan Pacific Championships". Swimming Australia. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ "UVa swimmer wins two gold medals at World University Games". The Daily Progress. July 7, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ "List of American Medalists at the 2015 World Championships". USA Swimming. August 9, 2015. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ Jim Rusnak. "First Pool Swimmers Added to 2016 Olympic Roster". USA Swimming.
- ^ "2016 US Olympic Team Roster" (PDF). USA Swimming.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Leah Smith". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019.
External links
- Leah Smith at USA Swimming (archived)
- Leah Smith at World Aquatics
- Leah Smith at Team USA (archived)
- Leah Smith at Olympics.com
- Leah Smith at Olympedia (archive)
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| Men's team |
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| Women's team |
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- 1995 births
- Living people
- American female freestyle swimmers
- Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Virginia Cavaliers women's swimmers
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming
- Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
- Swimmers from Pennsylvania
- Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
- Universiade medalists in swimming
- Universiade gold medalists for the United States