Regan Smith poised to make waves at 2023 Swimming Worlds: 'I think I have a lot to prove'
The American captured three medals in Tokyo and appears to be headed for another backstroke showdown in Fukuoka, Japan with Australian Kaylee McKeown - among others.
Swimming
American swimmer Regan Smith has been breaking records for years. But for the first time, the three-time Olympic medallist is living on her own – and loving it.
“It's been fun practising being a grown up, being an adult,” Smith, 21, told SwimSwam in a recent interview. “It's been weird, but I've enjoyed it. I enjoy the mundane things like doing my own laundry, making my own meals and cleaning the kitchen after breakfast. It's been great.”
It’s been a year since Smith left the collegiate ranks and competing for Stanford with a move to Phoenix, Arizona, where the reigning 100m backstroke world champion has focused solely on pro events, a strategy she has seen as beneficial to her progression in the pool.
“I definitely liked trying out college swimming, but personally I don't think it was right for me,” she told SwimSwam after just one year as a Cardinal. “I've always loved training long course; it's what I prefer. In the past, I've felt like short course meets can be a distraction for me.”
She added: “This year has been a blast for me. I love traveling and I prefer the training style immensely. I just think it's been a lot better for me.”
Smith swims under the direction of legendary coach Bob Bowman in Phoenix, who has trained the likes of Michael Phelps - among others.
And her recent results speak for themselves: After a pair of golds at the World Championships last year (also the 4x100m medley relay), she has added personal best times in both the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly in 2023 as she sets her sights on Worlds for this year, to be held 14-30 July in Fukuoka, Japan.
Regan Smith: Eyes on Paris 2024
A former world-record holder in both the 100m and 200m backstroke, Smith feels as though she has plenty of noise to make in Fukuoka, where she’ll likely go head-to-head with Australian Kaylee McKeown, the Olympic champ in those respective events.
“I think I have a lot to prove this summer,” Smith told World Aquatics in March. “It’s never a guarantee, but I hope to qualify in multiple events for the U.S. team going to Worlds. I hope that I will have a really great meet that can set me up for next summer.”
Next summer, of course, includes the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024. She and McKeown split world titles in the 100m (Smith) and 200m (McKeown) last year at Worlds, while Canada’s Kylie Masse has pushed her way up into the conversation, as well.
McKeown, who won both the aforementioned races at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, set a new world record in the 200m backstroke in March in Sydney (2:03.13), besting Smith’s four-year-old record by 0.22.
The Australian feels the push from Smith – even from half a world away.
“The times [Regan] keeps producing are pretty nerve-racking but [that] keeps us in the sport and keeps us moving forward,” the Australian told Swimming World Magazine.
“The world record doesn’t mean I stop working and stop putting the hard work in; it basically means I’m on the right pathway to the Olympics which is the end goal for me. The Olympics rolls around so fast and having the last Olympics postponed and having that experience I think I know how fast the preparation goes, too.”
Regan Smith: 'I'm enjoying life more'
With her new life in Phoenix and swimming as a professional, Smith seems to be coming into her own away from the pool, too. She and boyfriend Tim Rizzo, a collegiate swimmer who just finished his career at St. Olaf (Minnesota), celebrated six years as a couple earlier this year.
While 2023 has already featured several competitions for her, she’s also spent time training with the U.S. team in Austin, Texas, (Texas Relays) as well as at the USOPC’s National Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she contracted Covid-19.
“I got in some altitude training, but I also got Covid along the way,” Smith explained to SwimSwam, having missed five days in the pool. “I viewed it as a little rest and a little taper.”
Perspective is something Smith has really tried to focus on in what has been a year of transition, and could help her in a quest to continue to go after the biggest prizes in swimming.
“I'm enjoying life a lot more; I'm able to slow down,” she said of being in Phoenix. “[With] my personality, I can get anxious and always be looking forward to the next thing. Being in Arizona, I can slow down and I can focus just on swimming... instead of looking into the future.”
“This doesn’t need to be scary,” Smith said in a separate interview with SwimSwam, after she swept the 200m back and 100m fly at an event in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. “I saw a poster with my name on it and heard those kids cheering for me.”