Leah Smith has announced she is staying to train in Tucson, Arizona, despite her longtime coach Cory Chitwood moving to a job at Indiana.
Chitwood started coaching Smith at Virginia, and when he moved to Arizona, Smith followed.
This time, however, Smith has decided to remain in Arizona.
“I will be staying in Tucson, Arizona to train for Tokyo 2020,” Smith told Swimming World. “Having trained under Augie (Busch) and Clif (Robbins) the past six years, and Jesse (Stipek) the past two years, I know that I will be in great hands as I progress my career.
“I look forward to continuing my training with my awesome training group and team here, and am excited to meet the new coaches that will be hired. I am grateful to Cory Chitwood for all he has done for me in my career and with him the best at Indiana.”
During her time competing for the University of Virginia, Smith won four NCAA titles and became a double World Champion with gold medal performances in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Leah brought home a gold medal for her participation on the women’s 4 x 200m free relay, as well as an individual bronze in the women’s 400m free.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
However, since her Olympic performance, Smith has shown no signs of slowing down. In 2017 Leah was the only American athlete (male or female) to qualify to swim five individual events at the FINA Long Course World Championships.
Most recently, Leah picked up two silver medals at the 2018 Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships before taking home silver and three bronze medals at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo. She also earned podium finishes for her swims in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and the 800m freestyle at the 2018 FINA Short Course World Championships. She has also had strong performances in the TYR Pro Swim Series.
She is focusing on making another Olympic team in 2020.