Regan Smith is an American swimmer. She is the current world record holder of both the women's 100- and 200-meter backstroke. She has a third world record as a part of the USA women’s 4 x 100 Medley Relay.
Career
When Smith was twelve, she achieved multiple new age-group records and won medals at high school state meets. Following these successes, she joined the Apple Valley’s Riptide Swim Club and began to receive coaching from Mike Parratto, known for coaching Jenny Thompson, a famous swimmer who has won twelve Olympic medals. While she was fourteen, Smith competed at meets with Olympians such as Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky. In 2016 she became a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and set national age group records in the 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, and 100-meter backstroke. She was named the 2016 Age Group Swimmer of the Year for 13–14 year-olds. In July 2017, at age fifteen, Smith competed in her first major international meet at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. She qualified for the women's 200 meter backstroke event final and finished 8th. In August, Smith won gold medals in the 100 m backstroke and the 200 m backstroke at the 2017 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships. In the 100 m finals she broke Missy Franklin's 15-16 national age group record, as well as the worldjunior record, previously set by Taylor Ruck in the semis. She was awarded the 2017 National Age Group Swimmer of the Year for 15–16 year-olds. The following year Smith won her first senior international medal by taking bronze in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo. At the 2018 USA Swimming Championships, Smith set a new world junior record when she and Kathleen Baker tied for first in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:06.43. Smith also finished third in both the 100 m backstroke and 200 m butterfly. She wrapped up 2018 by earning the title of Age Group Swimmer of the Year for the third time of her career and for the second time consecutively in the age group.
2019 World Championships
At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Smith competed in one individual event, the 200-meter backstroke. In the heats and semifinals, Smith asserted herself as the favorite. In the heats, Smith recorded a time of 2:06.01, breaking her own junior record. In the semifinals, Smith surged away from the rest of the field and opened up a lead of two body lengths by the last 25 meters. Smith touched the wall with a time of 2:03.35, shattering Missy Franklin's world record of 2:04.06 that had stood since 2012. The next day in the final, Smith won her first World Championship title, claiming gold by a margin of more than two and a half seconds. She was well under her world record pace with a 100 m split of 59.45 at the halfway point. Smith's pace fell off at the end, but she still managed the second fastest women's 200 m backstroke ever with a time of 2:03.69. Despite not qualifying for an individual spot in the 100-meter backstroke, Smith was chosen as the backstroke leg for Team USA in the 4x100-meter medley relay final. Smith won gold along with Lilly King, Kelsi Dahlia, and Simone Manuel with a world-record time of 3:50.40 to break the previous mark of 3:51.55 set in 2017. As the lead-off leg, Smith's split time was eligible for an official world record. Her lead-off split of 57.57 broke Kathleen Baker's 100-meter backstroke world record of 58.00. Smith was awarded 2019 American Swimmer of the Year and World Swimmer of the Year for her achievements in 2019. She was also named 2019 National Age Group Swimmer of the Year, her fourth such award of her career.
