Leah Smith Grateful and Reflective After Resurgent Year at Texas
Leah Smith’s return to the World Championships team seemed exceptionally normal. During a four-year stretch from 2016 to 2019, she had been part of every U.S. international team in the 400 and 800 freestyle and 800 free relay, and at April’s International Team Trials in Greensboro, N.C., she was back in that familiar position as the clear No. 2 to Katie Ledecky in the 400 and 800.
It was as though 2021, when Smith finished out of the mix at a very disappointing Olympic Trials, had never happened. She was heading back to Budapest to swim the same events as she had at the 2017 Worlds, also in Budapest. At Worlds, she joined Ledecky on the medal podium in the 400 free and helped the U.S. take gold in the 800 free relay, just like she had five years earlier.
On that American relay, Smith handled the second leg in finals following 15-year-old Claire Weinstein, and a solid split of 1:56.47 had the team in the mix before Ledecky took over and vaulted the Americans into the lead. On the anchor leg, 17-year-old Bella Sims then sealed the deal.
“I know usually when I’m in the final, I can get my hand on the wall for a medal, but actually doing it and seeing that, that was just such a cool moment for me,” Smith said. “It felt like after last year, I was summoning a mountaintop. That was fun, and honestly the relay was such a blast. Having the two vets and the two teens, it was so fun. They were being silly and goofy, and it was just a blast. I have an amazing time on any USA relay, and that was special because I don’t think that we had won since 2017 in Budapest. It was kind of like a full-circle moment.”
From a swimming perspective, eerily similar — but from a life perspective, not so much.
When she swam at those first Budapest Worlds, Smith had just finished her college career at the University of Virginia and 22 years old. This time, she was one of the oldest swimmers on the Worlds team and a women’s team captain alongside Natalie Hinds. “It was a different time, but it also felt really cool to be on a team again and have all the experiences I’ve had and be in a much more grateful position than I was five years ago,” Smith said.
After 2017, Smith spent the next four years training in Arizona. Now, Smith is swimming with the women’s team at the University of Texas under coaches Carol Capitani and Mitch Dalton. She is several years older than most of her teammates, but she has quickly integrated herself with the Longhorn women.
The Texas team has been one of the most engaged on deck all week at U.S. Nationals, with Smith joining the team to support the college swimmers and the college swimmers lifting up Smith as well. The primary reason Smith wanted to come to Nationals after swimming well at Worlds was to finish the season with the Texas swimmers.
“I just instantly connected with the girls when I got there almost a year ago,” Smith said. “It’s been fun to be a part of their journey and watch them and lift them up when I can. I’m having a lot of fun at this meet swimming my stuff, but a lot of it is getting invested in their swims, too.”
At Nationals, Smith has skipped her usual freestyle events. Instead, she swam the 200 backstroke Wednesday (she finished fifth in 2:10.48) before racing the 400 IM Thursday. Smith was a finalist in the 400 IM at the 2017 World Championships, and she placed fifth at Olympic Trials. She entered the final with the quickest lifetime best, but she could not hold off a charging Ledecky down the stretch. But unlike Ledecky, Smith hinted she could continue racing the event at major meets.
Certainly, Smith’s results are indicative of a swimmer in a good spot, in terms of both training and life. Smith believes that the variety of experiences from throughout her swimming career have built the perspective that is fueling all of her success at age 27.
“I’ve learned a lot in my career, but the past year has felt very reflective. I’ve just developed a lot more perspective on everything, and I think that only comes with time,” Smith said. “I’ve worked with a lot of different coaches in my career. I’m learning a lot from Mitch and Carol, too. I feel like every coach has different strengths, so that’s been really fun for me. It’s been great working with Mitch and Carol and making a plan with them and then capitalizing on that plan. I think that’s something we did really well this year.”
