Former Stanford swimmer Regan Smith sets 100-meter backstroke world record at Olympic trials
Regan Smith made history on Tuesday at the Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis, setting a new world record in the 100-meter backstroke. The former Stanford swimmer finished with a time of 57.13 seconds, surpassing the previous record of 57.33 seconds held by Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown.
Cameras were closely following her all the way to the finish as she made a late push toward the end to narrowly achieve the record. She threw her arms up in triumph and hugged several of the other swimmers as they congratulated her. You can view the moment below.
Smith already held the American record entering the Olympic swimming trials and now adds more accolades as she prepares to compete in the 2024 Paris Games. It will be her second appearance in the Olympics after she won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Now she’ll look to go for gold this time around.
The victory came as a bounce back for Smith after she finished third and failed to qualify for in the 100-meter butterfly. Katharine Berkoff claimed the second Olympic spot in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 57.91.
Smith was a member of the swimming team at Stanford for the 2021-22 season before leaving to make the switch to become a professional. She trained at Arizona State with coach Bob Bowman, who also worked with Michael Phelps.
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Smith won an NCAA title in 2022 with her time of 1:47.76 in the 200-yard backstroke event. That time also set a record as it’s clear the backstroke is what she is the most equipped to win. She also helped Stanford to first place finishes in the 4×50-yard medley relay and 4×200-yard freestyle relay in the Pac-12 Championship.
Smith earned the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year for that season. She later would go on to win two gold medals at the 2022 World Championships, one in the 100-meter backstroke and one in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Smith earned silver medals in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes one year later in the 2023 World Championships.
Now she’ll aim to add Olympic gold to her achievements and based on what we was Tuesday, she will have a great chance to do so. The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are set to begin July 26 and will run through Aug. 11.