Heading into the 2024, Regan Smith had been one Olympics, won 3 medals there, won 9 world championship medals, won an NCAA title, and set 3 world records. But none of it was enough to make Smith feel good about her accomplishments in the pool.
Since the 2022 season, Smith has been slowly working on changing how she views her swimming and the success that comes with it. For much of her career, she would enter a race and feel immense pressure to win, to the point that she would derail herself before she even hit the water. Heading into her races in Paris, she was able to see herself as a fan might, as pure entertainment, and with that came the freedom to swim her own race.
Regan walked away from Paris with 3 silver medals in her individual events and 2 gold medals as a part of Team USA relays. Listen to the growth Smith has made as she describes taking control of her swimming and having pride in her accomplishments.