{"id":213040,"date":"2016-07-19T09:13:53","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T16:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=213040"},"modified":"2016-07-19T14:36:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T21:36:48","slug":"5-reasons-to-cheer-for-olympian-leah-smith-in-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/5-reasons-to-cheer-for-olympian-leah-smith-in-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons to Cheer for Olympian Leah Smith in Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Caitlin Daday, Swimming World College Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

Leah Smith<\/strong><\/a> is one of America\u2019s rising distance stars. After finishing second to Katie Ledecky<\/strong> in the 400 and 800 meter freestyles, as well as taking third in the 200 meter freestyle, she has qualified for her first Olympic Team. Although this is her first Olympics, Smith is no stranger to swimming success.<\/p>\n

As a rising senior at the University of Virginia, Smith has won 4 individual NCAA titles and is an 11-time All-American. She also has a wealth of national and international experience, having represented the U.S. on numerous international teams. This past year, she won gold as part of the 4×200 meter freestyle relay at the World Championships in Kazan, as well as 2 golds at the World University Games (400 meter freestyle, 4×200 meter freestyle relay). In addition to her recent accomplishments, here are some reasons to cheer for her in Rio:<\/p>\n

1. She comes from a long line of athletes.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Leah<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

The Smith family is well-acquainted with\u00a0athletic success. Leah is the family\u2019s first Olympian, but her older sister swam collegiately at Columbia, and her father was a pole vaulter at UVA. \u00a0Her older brother plays Division III baseball, and her younger brother swims at the Naval Academy. Most notably, her great-grandfather, Jimmy Smith<\/strong>, was a World Series Champion, and her great-uncle, Billy Conn<\/strong>, was a World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Being a great athlete is in her blood, and there is no doubt she will live up to her family\u2019s champion legacy in Rio.<\/p>\n

2. She has dreamt about the Olympics since the age group days.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"kid-watching-warm-down-mesa-2016\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Brooke Wright<\/p><\/div>\n

Because her mother did not know how to swim, Leah began taking swim lessons at the age of 5. Although initially needing to be urged and bribed by her mother, she quickly fell in love with the sport. By 10 she began realizing how far swimming could take her. She started setting goals of qualifying for the big meets and winning major events. From a young age Leah Smith was determined to make the Olympic team. At 21, she has achieved that dream.<\/p>\n

3. She has come a long way since 2012.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott<\/p><\/div>\n

After touching the wall in her 400 freestyle at this year\u2019s Olympic Trials, it became quite obvious that Smith has made great improvements since her last trip to Omaha. In 2012, she took the year off of high school swimming in order to focus on Trials and the Olympics. At the Trials, however, she came up short. Her times were not what she had wanted, and she ended up finishing 12th<\/sup> in the 800 and 14th<\/sup> in the 400. Throughout the last four years she has rebounded from her disappointment to keep swimming lifetime bests and now make the team.<\/p>\n

4. She\u2019s a team player.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"2015-acc-womens-champs-virginia\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: UVa Media Relations<\/p><\/div>\n

During her career thus far at the University of Virginia, representing her team has always been extremely important to her. Freshman year following her 3rd<\/sup> and 9th<\/sup> place finishes at the NCAA Championships, Smith was disappointed not for her own sake, but because she wished to have scored more points for her team. Team goals are important to her, and with that mindset she is sure to do Team USA proud.<\/p>\n

5. She saw Katie Ledecky\u2019s feet.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"katie-ledecky-leah-smith-\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

It has been clear since the last Olympics that Katie Ledecky is the most dominant force in women\u2019s distance swimming. Since her gold medal in London, she has essentially been untouchable. As a result, the achievements of other distance stars like Leah Smith may get overshadowed. But at the Trials, Smith was closer to Ledecky than most other competitors have ever gotten\u2014she saw her feet. In the 400 freestyle race Smith finished less than two seconds behind Ledecky and posted the second best time in the world this year. In addition, her 800 time was 3rd<\/sup> in the world for this year, though a bit further behind Ledecky. With these kinds of performances at the Trials, she and Ledecky will certainly make a dominant distance duo in Rio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Caitlin Daday, Swimming World College Intern Leah Smith is one of America\u2019s rising distance stars. After finishing second to Katie Ledecky in the 400 and 800 meter freestyles, as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3479,"featured_media":205915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17,7],"tags":[50558,33871,25031,25513],"class_list":["post-213040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-commentary","category-usa","tag-2016-rio-olympic-games","tag-caitlin-daday","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-leah-smith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n5 Reasons to Cheer for Olympian Leah Smith in Rio<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leah Smith\u00a0is one of America\u2019s rising distance stars. 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